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CONVERSATIONS 

"Y  ^  APR  8   1911    ■! 

P  E  A  Y  E  ^ . 

BV  212  .C65  1838 
Conversations  on  prayer 


WRITTEN  FOR   THE   AMERICAN   SUNDAY-SCHOOL   UNION,   AND 
REVISED   BY   THE   COMMITTEE   OP  PUBLICATION. 


AMERICAN  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  UNION. 

146  CHESTNUT   STREET. 


Entered  according  lo  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1838,  by 
Paul  Beck,  Jr.,  Treasurer,  in  trust  for  the  American  Sunday- 
pchonl  Union,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  tiiM 
Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Prayer  commanded  and  encouraged •       6 

CHAPTER  n. 
We  may  ask  amiss 17 

CHAPTER  m. 

We  must  pray  in  the  name  of  Christ,  for  things 
agreeable  to  the  will  of  God 22 

CHAPTER  IV. 
We  must  pray  in  faith 37 

CHAPTER  V. 
We  must  pray  with  right  feelings 53 

CHAPTER  VI. 

We  must  forgive  others  when  we  pray ;  and  we 
must  forsake  sin  and  obey  God,  if  we  would 

have  him  answer  our  prayers , 70 

3 


4  CONTENTS. 

GHAPTER  VII. 

We  must  pray  with  watchfulness  and  perseverance, 
earnestness  and  importunity 81 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

When,  where,  for  whom,  and  how  we  must  pray.    105 


CHAPTER  I. 

PEATER    COMMANDED    AND    ENCOtJltAGED. 

"  0  WHAT  a  beautiful  evening  this 
is,  mother,"  said  little  Susan,  as  she 
looked  out  of  the  window.  The  moon 
■was  shining  bright  and  clear,  glisten- 
ing upon  the  snow  and  frost,  and  the 
stars  twinkled  in  the  clear  blue  sky. 
She  turned  around  upon  the  blazing 
wood-fire,  that  made  her  mother's 
room  so  pleasant  and  comfortable. 

"  Yes,  my  dear  Susan,"  said  her 
mother,  *'  it  is  a  pleasant  evening,  and 
well  calculated  to  turn  our  thoughts 
towards  that  great  and  good  Being, 
who  made  the  world,  and  the  sun, 
moon,  and  stars ;  and  who  gives  us 
all  the  comforts  and  blessings  we  en- 
joy. O,  how  delightful  it  is  to  look 
up  in  a  clear  moonlight  evening,  and 
see  the  sky  set  so  thick  w^ith  stars. 
David  was  filled  with  wonder  at  the 

1^  5 


6  CONVERSATIONS 

sight,  because  he  saw  in  them  the 
glory  of  his  heavenly  Father.  '  The 
heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God,  and 
the  firmament  showeth  his  handv- 
work.'" 

"  How  great  God  must  be,  mother, 
to  make  all  these  things  !  And  will 
he  listen  to  such  a  little  girl  as  I  am, 
if  I  pray  to  him  ?  David  says, '  When 
I  consider  thy  heavens,  the  w^ork  of 
thy  fingers ;  the  moon  and  the  stars, 
which  thou  hast  ordained ;  what  is 
man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him? 
and  the  son  of  man,  that  thou  visitest 
him?'  But  1  am  only  a  little  girl. 
Will  he  care  for  me?" 

"  But,  in  the  same  psalm,  my  dear, 
David  says,  'Out  of  the  mouth  of 
babes  and  sucklings  hast  thou  ordain- 
ed strength.'  And  Jesus  says  that 
God  takes  care  of  the  little  birds :  'Are 
not  two  sparrows  sold  for  a  farthing? 
and  one  of  them  shall  not  fall  on  the 
ground  without  your  Father.'  If  the 
Lord  takes  care  of  the  little  birds, 


ON    PRAYER.  7 

will  he  think  you  too  small  for  him 
to  notice  ?  No;  Jesus  says, '  the  very 
hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered.' 
If  he  counts  the  hairs  of  your  head, 
surely  he  will  not  refuse  to  listen 
when  you  pray  to  him.  But  our 
heavenly  Father  has  not  left  us  to 
suppose  that  we  may  go  to  him.  He 
has  kindly  told  us  to  come  and  ask 
for  what  we  want;  and  graciously 
promised  to  hear  and  answer  our 
prayers." 

"  O,  mother,  I  cannot  think  he 
would  like  to  be  troubled  with  my 
little  wants." 

"  My  dear,  it  is  one  of  the  most 
glorious  things  in  the  character  of 
God,  that  he  is  as  careful  of  the  least 
as  of  the  greatest  of  his  works.  Have 
you  never  seen  a  little  spider  on  the 
wall  or  fence?" 

''  Yes,  mother,  and  it  is  a  very  little 
thing,  indeed,  so  that  I  could  but  just 
see  it." 

*'  Yet^  my  dear,  the  same  God  that 


CONVERSATIONS 


made  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  made 
this  little  spider ;  and  you  see  how 
much  pains  he  has  taken  to  provide 
it  food.  See  the  little  web  on  which 
it  is  running-.  God  has  given  the 
spider  the  wonderful  power  and  skill 
of  weaving  this  web  from  its  own 
body,  and  hanging  it  up  for  a  net,  to 
catch  the  little  flies,  which  it  kills 
and  eats.  Do  you  think  he  would 
care  more  for  the  little  spider,  that 
has  no  soul,  than  for  you  ?" 

"  But  the  little  spider  does  not  pray 
to  him,  mother.  I  am  afraid  to  speak 
to  the  great  God.  I  am  afraid  he 
will  not  be  willing  to  hear  such  a 
little  child.'^ 


ON    PRAYER.  9 

"  My  dear,  if  I  tell  you  to  ask  me 
for  any  thing  you  want,  will  you  be 
afraid  to  come  to  me  for  it?" 

"  O,  no,  mother,  I  should  not ;  be- 
cause I  know  that  you  love  to  give 
me  good  things,  and  make  me  happy. 
And  I  always  know  that  I  shall  get 
what  I  ask,  if  it  is  best  that  I  should 
have  it." 

"  Well,  my  dear,  you  may  be  more 
certain  that  God  will  give  you  what 
you  ask  for,  if  it  is  best  you  should 
have  it.  Hear  'what  Jesus  says  about 
it.  '  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you ; 
seek,  and  ye  shall  find ;  knock,  and 
it  shall  be  opened  unto  you.  For 
every  one  that  asketh  receiveth ;  and 
he  that  seeketh  findeth ;  and  to  him 
that  knocketh  it  shall  be  opened." 

"  O,  that  is  for  me ;  for  it  says  every 
one  ;  and  if  every  one  may  ask,  then 
a  little  child  may  ask.  But  how  cayi 
God  be  willing  to  give  us  what  we 
ask  for?" 

"  He  is  our  heavenly  Father.    We 


10  CONVERSATIONS 

are  his  children,  if  we  love  him.  You 
knpw  how  willing  3^our  father  and 
mother  are  to  give  you  good  things. 
But  God  is  more  rvilling.  Hear  what 
Jesus  says  again  :  '  If  a  son  shall  ask 
bread  of  any  of  you  that  is  a  father, 
will  he  give  him  a  stone  ?  or  if  he  ask 
a  fish,  will  he  give  him  a  serpe7it  ? 
Or,  if  he  ask  an  egg,  w411  he  offer 
him  a  scorpion?' " 

"  No,  mother,  I  know  father  would 
not  serve  me  so.  He  always  loves 
to  please  me ;  and  it  grieves  him 
when  I  am  a  bad  girl,  so  that  he  can- 
not do  for  me  as  he  would.  When 
he  comes  home  at  night,  he  always 
smiles  so,  I  know  he  loves  to  give  me 
good  things." 

"  Well,  your  father  and  mother  are 
not  as  good  as  God.  We  are  sinners, 
and  often  do  wrong :  and  Jesus  says, 
'  If  ye  then,  being  evil,  know  how  to 
give  good  gifts  unto  your  children, 
HOW  MUCH  MORE  shall  your  heavenly 


ON    PRAYER.  11 

Father  give  his  Holy  Spirit  to  them 
that  ask  him !'" 

"  How  wonderful  that  is,  mother  ! 
Is  the  great  God  more  willing  to  give 
me  his  Holy  Spirit,  than  my  dear 
parents  are  to  give  me  good  things?" 

"  Yes,  my  dear,  it  is  true ;  and  he 
has  given  us  a  great  many  other  pro- 
mises, to  show  that  he  is  willing  to 
hear  our  prayers.  He  has  even  com- 
manded us  to  pray  to  him,  because 
he  knew  it  would  be  for  our  good." 

"  O,  I  should  not  think  anybody 
would  need  to  be  commanded  to  pray 
to  God.  It  is  such  a  privilege  for  us 
to  be  allowed  to  speak  to  our  heavenly 
Father,  and  ask  him  for  the  things 
we  want,  I  should  think  everybody 
would  be  glad  to  do  it." 

"  We  should  think  so,  my  dear ; 
but  people  are  not  always  willing  to 
do  what  is  for  their  own  good.  Some- 
times children  must  be  made  to  study 
their  books,  when  they  do  not  like  to 
do  it,  although  it  is  for  their  good. 


12  CONVERSATIONS 

Parents  do  this  from  love  to  their 
children,  and  not  because  it  is  of  any 
benefit  to  themselves.  So,  it  is  of  no 
benefit  to  God  for  us  to  pray  to  him ; 
but  he  commands  us  to  pray,  because 
he  loves  us,  and  knows  it  is  for  our 
good." 

"  Do,  mother,  tell  me  some  more 
of  God's  promises  about  prayer,  and 
his  commands,  too." 

*'  Yes,  my  dear ;  I  will  first  read 
some  of  the  passages  of  Scripture  by 
which  it  is  made  our  duty  to  pray." 

(Susan's  mother  reads  from  the 
Bible.)  "  Seek  ye  the  Lord  while  he 
may  be  found,  call  ye  upon  him  while 
he  is  near."  "In  every  thing,  by 
prayer  and  supplication,  with  thanks- 
giving, let  your  requests  be  made 
known  unto  God."  "I  will,  that 
men  pray  everywhere."  "  Watch 
and  pray." 

"  And  now  will  you  read  some 
more  of  the  promises,  mother  ?" 

''Yes,  I  will  read  a  few  of  them ; 


ON    PRAYER.  13 

but  there  are  so  many  that  I  can 
hardly  tell  which  to  choose.  '  The 
Lord  is  nigh  unto  all  them  that  call 
upon  him,  to  all  that  call  upon  him 
in  truth.  He  will  fulfil  the  desire  of 
them  that  fear  him  :  he  also  will  hear 
their  cry,  and  will  save  them.'  " 

"  And  will  the  Lord  be  nigh  to  me, 
if  I  pray  to  him  ?  And  will  he  give 
me  what  I  desire?" 

*'  Yes,  if  you  '  call  upon  him  in 
truth,''  he  wdll  be  near  to  you." 

''  What  does  that  mean,  mother?" 

"  To  call  upon  God  in  truth,  is  to 
be  sincere  in  your  prayers  :  to  feel  in 
your  heart  just  what  you  say.  It  is 
not  prayer  to  say  over  some  w^ords 
that  you  have  learned,  without  un- 
derstanding what  they  mean,  and 
really  wishing  for  the  things  for  which 
you  ask.  It  is  lying  to  God.  If  you 
mock  him  in  that  w^ay,  he  wnll  not 
answer  your  prayer.  But  here  are 
some  more  promises  :  '  If  any  of  you 
lack  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  God, 


14  CONVERSATIONS 

who  giveth  to  all  men  liberal  1)^  and 
npbraideth  not ;  and  it  shall  be  given 
him.'  '  The  effectual  fervent  prayer 
of  a  righteous  man  availeth  much.' 
But  now,  my  dear  Susan,  it  is  grow- 
ing late.  We  will  sing  a  little  hymn, 
and  pray  to  God  ;  and  then  we  will 
lie  down  and  sleep." 

"  But  tell  me  first,  my  dear  mother, 
what  I  should  ask  God  to  give  me 
his  Holy  Spirit  for." 

"  You  have  a  wicked  heart.  You 
love  to  do  wrong,  and  hate  to  do  right. 
This  is  the  disposition  of  every  one 
that  has  not  been  born  again." 

"  I  do  not  know  what  that  means, 
mother." 

"To  be  born  again  is  to  have  your 
heart  so  changed,  that  you  will  love 
to  do  right,  and  hate  to  do  wrong. 
You  want  God's  Holy  Spirit  to  make 
you  willing  to  obey  and  love  him ; 
because  you  are,  by  nature,  so  wick- 
ed that  you  will  not  obey  and  love 
God,  till  he  has  changed  your  heart." 


ON   PRAYER.  15 

''  What  is  my  heart,  mother  ?" 

^'  It  is  that  part  of  you  that  chooses, 
and  loves,  and  hates.  Now,  you 
sometimes  choose  and  love  what  is 
wrong,  and  refuse  and  hate  what  is 
right.  But  if  God's  Holy  Spirit 
changes  your  heart,  then  you  will 
choose  and  love  what  is  right,  and 
refuse  and  hate  what  is  wrong." 

"  And  then  shall  I  want  the  Holy 
Spirit,  after  my  heart  is  changed  ?" 

"  Yes,  my  dear ;  every  right  feel- 
ing that  we  have,  and  every  good 
thing  in  us,  comes  from  God's  Holy 
Spirit.  And,  after  your  heart  is 
changed,  you  will  need  the  Spirit 
of  God  to  keep  you  in  the  right  way, 
to  help  you  to  overcome  the  bad  dis- 
positions of  your  heart,  and  to  make 
you  know  more  and  more  of  God, 
and  be  more  and  more  like  Christ." 

"  Then,  mother,  am  I  to  blame  for 
not  obeying  God,  before  he  gives  me 
his  Holy  Spirit?" 

"Yes;   you  ought  to  obey  God 


16  CONVERSATIONS 

now,  and  you  are  to  blame  for  not 
obeying  him.  You  ought  to  love 
Jesus,  and  trust  in  him,  and  give  him 
your  heart  now.  And  the  reason 
why  you  need  God's  Holy  Spirit  is, 
that  your  heart  is  so  bad  you  will  not 
obey  him." 

HYMN. 

It  is  my  father's  chief  delight. 

My  mother's  greatest  joy, 
To  have  me  do  the  thing  that's  right, 

Nor  once  their  peace  destroy. 

Then  they  deUght  good  things  to  give, 

That  I  may  happy  be ; 
And  always  will,  while  so  I  live, 

Be  kind  and  good  to  me. 

But  more,  my  heavenly  Father,  God, 

Is  pleased  when  I  obey ; 
Nor  loves  to  use  his  dreadful  rod, 

To  keep  me  in  his  way. 

And  yet  more  willing  still  is  he, 

If  I  but  ask,  to  give 
His  Holy  Spirit,  full  and  free, 

Within  my  heart  to  live. 

Then  I  will  early  learn  to  pray, 

And  ever  love  to  ask. 
And  alwa.vs  mean  the  things  I  say, 

Nor  think  my  prayers  a  task. 


ON    PRAYER.  17 


CHAPTER  II. 

WE    MAT    ASK    AMISS. 

''  Mother,  if  God  is  so  willing  to 
give  us  good  things,  when  we  ask  for 
them,  what  is  the  reason  that  people 
do  not  always  get  what  they  pray  for  ? 
I  have  heard  a  great  many  prayers 
that  I  think  have  never  been  an- 
swered ;  and  I  have  prayed  a  great 
many  times  for  things  that  I  have 
never  received." 

"  My  dear,  it  is  not  because  God 
does  not  mind  his  promises.  It  is 
because  people  do  not  always  ask 
aright.  The  apostle  James  says : 
"  Ye  ask,  and  receive  not,  because  ye 
ask  amiss,  that  ye  may  consume  it 
upon  your  lusts." 

"  I  do  not  know  what  lusts  means, 
mother." 

"  The  word  lust,  my  dear,  may  be 


18  CONVERSATIONS 

•understood  differently,  according  to 
the  connexion  in  which  it  is  used. 
Here,  I  suppose  it  means  selfish  de- 
sires. You  may  desire  good  things 
for  no  other  reason  than  to  gratify 
yourself,  without  any  regard  to  the 
glory  of  God,  the  good  of  others,  or 
even  your  own  eternal  good.  You 
may  ask  for  the  Holy  Spirit,  for  the 
sake  of  the  comfort  which  you  think 
He  will  give  you ;  you  may  ask  God 
to  forgive  your  sins,  because  you  are 
afraid  he  will  punish  you,  and  not 
because  you  hate  sin,  or  desire  His 
favour  and  love  ;  or  you-may  pray  for 
the  Holy  Spirit,  because  you  wish  to 
have  the  name  of  being  very  reli- 
gious. All  this  would  be  asking 
amiss,  to  consume  it  upon  your  lusts. 
But  that  you  may  understand  my 
meaning,  I  will  suppose  a  few  cases. 
Suppose  you  come  to  me,  and  say, 
"  Mother,  I  want  something." — 
*'  What  do  you  want,  my  dear  ?"  "  I 
do  not  know,  mother.     You  told  me 


ox    PRAYEE.  19 

to  ask  you,  when  I  wanted  any  tiling. 
I  want  something  now."  Do  you 
think  I  should  give  you  any  thing?" 

"  No,  mother;  you  would  think  I 
was  trifling  with  you ;  and  you  would 
be  displeased,  and  send  me  away." 

*'  But  people  often  pray  just  in  that 
way.  The  time  has  come  for  them 
to  pray  ;  and  they  think  they  must  say 
something ;  and  so  they  go  and  pray 
to  God,  without  feeling  sensible  of 
their  wants.  In  fact,  they  do  not 
really  desire  any  thing  in  particular. 
Such  prayers  are  trifling  with  God, 
and  he  will  not  answer  them." 

"  But,  mother,  should  we  let  the 
time  go  by,  without  praying,  when 
we  do  not  feel  sensible  of  our  wants?" 

"  No  my  dear ;  we  ought  to  have  a 
deep  sense  of  our  wants,  all  the  time, 
and  to  maintain  a  spirit  of  prayer,  so 
that  we  shall  be  prepared  at  any  time 
to  pray  aright.  But,  if  our  stated 
time  for  prayer  comes,  and  finds  our 
hearts  cold,   so  that  we  cannot  tell 


20  CONVERSATIONS 

what  to  pray  for,  we  should  think 
over  our  wants,  and  read  God's  word  ; 
and  think  how  willing  he  is  to  give 
us  what  we  need,  till  our  hearts  are 
warmed  with  holy  desires,  and  we 
are  prepared  to  ask  God  in  earnest 
for  things  that  we  sincerely  desire. 
But,  suppose  you  come  and  ask  me 
for  some  cakes,  when  I  know  you  are 
not  hungry,  but  only  want  them  to 
please  your  taste,  and  gratify  your 
appetite,  do  you  think  I  would  give 
them  to  you?" 

*'I  think  you  ought  not  to  give 
them  to  me  mother;  for  they  w^ould 
only  hurt  me." 

"  Well,  if  you  ask  me  for  a  new 
dress,  wdien  I  know  you  want  it  only 
for  the  sake  of  gratifying  your  vanity, 
by  appearing  in  fine  clothes,  ought  I 
to  give  it  to  you?" 

"No,  mother;  it  would  do  me 
more  hurt  than  good." 

"Well,  God  sees  your  heart,  all 
the  time  ;  and  he  knows  how  you  feel 


ON    PRAYER.  21 

about  every  thing  you  ask.  And  if 
you  ask  for  his  blessing  to  gratify 
your  selfish  feelings,  or  your  vanity, 
he  will  not  give  you  the  things  you 
pray  for.  He  abhors  such  prayers. 
'Lying  lips,'  says  Solomon,  ' are  an 
abomination  to  the  Lord.'  But,  if  I 
should  promise  to  give  you  every 
thing  you  ask  for,  you  would  not 
think,  I  meant  to  say  that  I  w^ould 
give  them  to  you,  if  you  ask  for  them 
in  any  of  these  ways  that><I  have 
mentioned." 

''  No,  mother;  and  if  I  should  ask 
so,  and  you  should  not  give  me  what 
I  ask  for,  you  would  not  break  your 
promise." 

"  Neither  does  the  Lord  break  his 
promise,  when  he  refuses  to  give  peo- 
ple what  they  ask,  when  they  do  not 
ask  aright." 

"Well,  mother,  do  teach  me  how 
t^  pray  aright,  so  that  God  will  give 
me  wdiat  I  ask  for." 

**  I  will  try  to  do  so,  my  dear ;  but 


22  CONVERSATIONS 

we  have  talked    long  enough  this 
time." 


CHAPTER  III. 

WE  MUST  PRAT  IX  THE  XAME  OF  CHRIST,    FOR  THIS:GS 
AGREEABLE  TO  THE    -WILL  OF    GOD. 

''My  dear  mother,  I  want  to  hear 
more  about  prayer.  You  told  me 
you  would  teach  me  how  to  ask 
aright,  for  what  I  want." 

''  Well,  my  dear,  the  first  thing  I 
have  to  tell  you,  is,  that  you  must 
pray  in  the  name  of  Christ;  for  there 
is  no  other  way  that  you  can  come 
to  God.  Just  before  Jesus  left  his 
disciples,  he  said  to  them,  "  Whatso- 
ever ye  shall  ask  in  my  name,  that 
will  I  do.  If  ye  shall  ask  any  thing 
in  my  name,  I  will  do  it.  Whatso- 
ever ye  shall  ask  the  Father  in  my 
name,  he  will  give  it  you."  And  the 
apostle  Paul   says:  "Giving  thanks 


ON    PRAYER.  23 

always  for  all  things  unto  God  and 
the  Father,  in  the  name  of  our  Lm^d 
Jesus  Christ.'' 

"But  I  do  not  understand  that, 
mother.  What  does  it  mean,  to  ask 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  ?" 

"  My  dear,  if  you  wanted  to  ask  a 
favour  of  some  great  man,  perhaps  you 
would  not  like  to  go  to  him  yourself, 
but  would  get  some  kind  friend,  that 
w^as  acquainted  with  him,  to  go  and 
ask  him  for  you.  Judge  Thomas  is 
a  great  man,  always  full  of  business  ; 
and  if  I  sent  you  to  borrow  a  book  of 
him,  you  might  get  his  little  Emily, 
whom  he  loves  so  well,  that  he  never 
would  deny  her  any  thing,  to  go  and 
ask  her  father  to  give  you  the  book. 
You  remember,  you  told  me  that 
little  Jane  Miller  tore  her  Sunday- 
school  book,  and  lost  her  right  to  take 
books  from  the  library ;  so  that  she 
got  Emily  Thomas  to  get  one  for  her, 
on  her  own  account. 

'*Well,  now^  this  may  give  you 


24  CONVERSATIONS 

some  idea  of  what  it  is  to  ask  in  tlie 
name  of  Clirist.  We  have  all  dis- 
obeyed God.  We  are  all  sinners. 
We  have  lost  our  right  to  the  favour 
of  God  ;  so  that  we  cannot  ^o  to  him 
and  ask  him  to  give  us  the  things  we 
need,  07i  our  own  account.  But  Jesus 
has  taken  our  nature  upon  him, 
obeyed  God  for  us,  suffered  for  our 
sins,  and  gone  up  to  heaven  to  pray 
for  us.  God  is  well  pleased  with 
him,  and  will  alw^ays  give  him  what 
he  asks.  And  He  will  not  let  us 
come  to  Him,  to  ask  any  thing  of 
Him,  or  to  praise  Him,  or  to  w^orship 
Him  in  any  way',  except  in  the  name 
of  Jesus.  And  He  will  not  give  us 
any  thing,  except  on  the  account  of 
Jesus.  And,  my  dear,  w^e  must  not 
only  pray  in  the  name  of  Christ,  but 
we  must  ask  for  things  agreeable  to 
the  will  of  God.  The  Bible  says, 
that  if  we  ask  any  thing  accorcli7ig  to 
his  will  he  heareth  us.'' 


ON    PRAYER.  25 

''  I  do  not  know  what  according  to 
his  will  means,  mother." 

*'  When  we  speak  of  asking  for 
things  according  to  the  will  of  God, 
we  mean  things  that  he  is  willing  to 
give  us." 

"But  how  shall  I  know  what  he 
is  willing  to  give  me  ?" 

"  There  are  some  things,  my  dear, 
which  God  has  told  us  in  the  Bible 
that  he  is  willing  to  give  us.  Christ 
says  to  his  disciples,  '  If  ye  then, 
being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good 
gifts  unto  your  children,  how  much 
more  shall  your  heavenly  Father  give 
his  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask  him.' 
And  Paul  says  to  the  Thessalonians, 
*  This  is  the  will  of  God,  even  your 
sanctification.'  So,  if  w^e  pray  for 
God's  Holy  Spirit  to  renew  our  hearts, 
to  take  away  our  sins,  and  to  keep  us 
from  sinning,  we  ask  for  what  we 
know  God  is  willing  to  give  us.  And 
this  includes  all  spiritual  blessings 
that  we  need.  And,  if  we  have  the 
3 


26  CONVERSATIONS 

Spirit  of  God  in  our  hearts,  he  will 
teach  us  what  things  to  pray  for. 
The  apostle  Paul  says,  '  The  Spirit 
also  helpeth  our  infirmities  :  for  we 
know  not  what  we  shoul^i  pray  for 
as  we  ought :  but  the  Spirit  itself 
maketh  intercession  for  us,  with 
groanings  w^hich  cannot  be  uttered. 
And  he  that  searcheth  the  hearts 
knoweth  wdrat  is  the  mind  of  the 
Spirit,  because  he  maketh  interces- 
sion for  the  saints,  according  to  the 
will  of  God.'  As  every  right  feeling 
of  our  hearts  comes  from  the  Spirit 
of  God,  so  every  holy  desire  for  spi- 
ritual blessings  is  formed  in  us  by 
the  Holy  Spirit.  Therefore,  all  real 
and  acceptable  prayer  must  be  the 
fruit  of  God's  Spirit.  God  has  also 
informed  us  that  he  is  willing  to  give 
us  food  and  clothing,  and  other  com- 
forts, day  by  day,  as  we  need  them. 
*  Trust  in  the  Lord,  and  do  good  :  so 
shalt  thou  dwell  in  the  land,  and  ve- 
rily thou  shalt  be  fed.'     Christ  says, 


ON   PRAYER.  27 

'  Take  no  thought,  saying,  what  shall 
we  eat  ?  or  what  shall  we  drink  ?  or 
wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed'^ 
But  seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  his  righteousness,  and  all  these 
things  shall  be  added  un to  you . '  And 
he  teaches  us  to  pray,  '  Give  us  this; 
day  our  daily  bread.'  So,  you  see, 
God  has  taught  you,  in  the  Bible, 
what  kind  of  blessings  you  may  ask 
for,  hiowing  them  to  be  agreeable  to 
his  will.  But  you  may  sometimes 
desire  particular  things,  which  the 
Lord  may  see  it  would  be  neither  for 
your  good  nor  for  his  glory  to  give 
you,  just  in  the  way  and  at  the  time 
you  desire  them.  If  you  pray  aright 
for  the  influences  of  his  Holy  Spirit, 
he  will  certainly  give  them  to  you, 
though  it  may  not  be  just  at  the  time 
and  in  the  way  that  you  think  best. 
And  if  you  pray  for  food  and  clothing, 
he  will  give  it  to  you;  though  he 
may  see  that  it  would  not  be  good  for 
you  to  have  just  as  much,  or  just  the 


^8  CONVERSATIONS 

kind  that  you  desire.  My  dear,  if 
your  father  should  send  you  away  to 
school,  and,  on  parting  with  yon, 
should  say, '  Now,  Susan,  if  3^ou  want 
any  thing,  just  write  and  let  me  know, 
and  I  will  send  it  to  you ;'  how  would 
you  understand  him?  Would  you 
think  he  meant  to  give  you  liberty 
to  ask  for  any  thing  your  fancy  might 
put  into  your  head,  Avith  the  certainty 
of  receiving  it  ?  If  3^ou  should  write 
home  as  soon  as  you  arrived  at  the 
school,  saying, '  My  dear  father,  please 
to  send  me  a  gold  watch,  and  some 
jewels  for  my  ears,  and  some  rings 
for  my  fingers,'  would  you  expect  to 
get  them?" 

"No,  mother,  I  should  not,  be- 
cause I  know  that  he  does  not  think 
it  best  for  me  to  wear  such  things." 

"  No ;  and  just  so,  when  God 
promises  to  give  us  what  we  ask  for, 
he  does  not  mean  that  he  will  give 
us  any  thing  that  he  has  forbidden 
us  to  have.     But,  would  you  think 


ox    PRAYER.  29 

it  certain,  from  your  father's  promise, 
that  you  would  get  every  thing  you 
should  ask  for,  even  though  it  should 
be  something  which  he  had  not  for- 
bidden you  to  have  V 

""  No,  mother  ;  if  it  w^as  any  thing 
that  he  had  told  me  he  wished  me  to 
have,  I  should  feel  certain  of  getting 
it.  But,  if  it  was  something  that  I 
thought  I  needed,  but  did  not  know 
his  mind  about  it,  I  should  say,  "Fa- 
ther, I  w^ant  this  very  much  ;  but  I 
do  not  know^  w^hether  you  will  think 
it  best  for  me  to  have  it ;  and  you 
know  better  than  I  do;"  a.nd  I  should 
keep  asking  him,  till  he  gave  me  an 
answer.  But,  if  he  said,  "  No,  Su- 
san; this  is  not  best  for  you;"  I 
should  be  satisfied,  and  should  not 
think  he  had  broken  his  promise." 

"Well,  my  dear,  just  so  you  are  to 
understand  the  promises  of  God; 
and  just  so  you  must  ask  him  for 
w^hat  you  want.  If  it  is  any  thing 
which  he  has  told  you  in  the  Bible 

3* 


30  CONVERSATIONS 

that  he  wished  you  to  have,  you  mar 
be  sure  of  receiving  it,  if  ijou  ask 
aright;  and  if  you  do  not  receive  it, 
you  may  conclude  that  you  have 
asked  amiss.  But,  if  it  is  any  thing 
that  you  are  not  certain  it  is  best  for 
you  to  have,  or  any  thing  that  God 
has  not  told  you  he  is  willing  to  give, 
you  must  ask  with  the  same  spirit  of 
submission,  that  you  v/ould  ask  your 
father,  in  the  case  I  just  supposed. 
You  may  keep  asking,  and  you  may 
ask  very  earnestly,  till  you  see  cause 
to  believe  that  it  is  not  the  will  of 
God  that  you  should  have  what  you 
desire;  but  then  you  must  submit, 
and  be  satisfied  that  the  will  of  God 
should  be  done." 

"Mother,  can  you  tell  me  about 
any  good  people  mentioned  in  the 
Bible,  who  asked  for  things  that  they 
did  not  receive  ?" 

"  Yes,  my  dear,  I  can  tell  you  of 
several.  Moses  was  one  of  the  best 
men  that  ever  lived;  and  a  great 


ON    PRAYER.  31 

many  times,  the  Lord  heard  his 
prayers,  in  a  most  wonderful  man- 
ner. But,  after  the  children  of  Is- 
rael got  within  sight  of  the  promised 
land,  Moses  prayed  and  said :  '  O 
Lord  God,  thou  hast  began  to  show 
thy  servant  thy  greatness,  and  thy 
mighty  hand  :  for  what  God  is  there 
in  Heaven  or  in  earth  that  can  do 
according  to  thy  works,  and  accord- 
ing to  thy  might  ?  I  pray  thee  let 
me  go  over  and  see  the  good  land 
that  is  beyond  Jordan,  that  goodly 
mountain,  and  Lebanon.'  But  the 
Lord  had  told  him  before,  that  he 
should  not  go  into  the  land  of  Ca- 
naan, because,  at  one  time,  w^hen  the 
children  of  Israel  murmured  against 
God,  he  had  shown  a  bad  spirit. 
And  now,  He  w^ould  not  do  as  Moses 
desired.  But  He  told  Moses  that  he 
might  go  up  into  a  high  mountain 
and  see  the  land." 

"And  was  Moses  satisfied    wdth 
that?" 


22  CONVERSATIONS 

''Yes,  he  submitted,  and  said  no 
more  about  it,  after  lie  knew  the 
Lord's  will.  And  there  was  good 
King  David,  too,  who  was  a  prophet, 
and  who  wrote  most  of  the  Psalms. 
His  little  child  was  taken  very  sick, 
and  was  likely  to  die ;  and  he  prayed 
that  God  would  save  the  child's  life. 
He  fasted  too,  and  went  and  lay  all 
night  upon  the  ground.  And  his 
friends  went  to  him  and  tried  to  per- 
suade him  to  get  up ;  but  he  wonld 
not ;  and  they  could  not  get  him  to 
eat  any  thing.  And  this  he  did  from 
day  to  day." 

"  And  did  the  child  die,  mother  ?" 
*'  On  the  seventh  day,  the  child 
died  ;  and  his  people  were  afraid  to 
tell  him  of  it ;  for  they  said,  '  Behold, 
while  the  child  was  yet  alive,  we 
spake  unto  him,  and  he  would  not 
hearken  unto  our  voice;  how  will 
he  then  vex  himself  if  we  tell  him 
the  child  is  dead  V  But  w^hen  David 
saw  them  whispering  to  one  another, 


ox    PRAYER.  33 

he  asked  them  if  the  child  was  dead. 
And  when  they  told  him  that  it  w^as 
dead,  he  rose  up  and  w^ashed  himself, 
and  changed  his  clothes,  and  w^ent 
into  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  wor- 
shipped. Then  he  went  to  his  own 
house,  and  called  for  something  to 
eat.'^ 

"  Why,  I  should  think  he  would 
have  been  still  more  sorry,  when  he 
knew  the  child  was  dead." 

"  So  his  people  thought;  and  they 
said  to  him,  '  What  is  this  that  thou 
hast  done  ?  thou  didst  fast  and  w^eep 
for  the  child,  while  it  was  alive ;  but 
when  the  child  was  dead,  thou  didst 
rise  and  eat  bread.'  But  he  answer- 
ed and  said,  '  While  the  child  was 
yet  alive,  I  fasted  and  w^ept :  for  I 
said,  who  can  tell  whether  God  will 
be  gracious  to  me,  that  the  child  may 
live  ?  But  now  he  is  dead,  where- 
fore should  I  fast  ?  Can  I  bring  him 
back  again  ?  I  shall  go  to  him,  but 
he  shall  not  return  to  me.'     Here  is 


34  CONVERSATIONS 

a  most  excellent  example  of  prayer, 
in  cases  where  we  do  not  know  what 
the  will  of  the  Lord  is.  So  long  as 
there  was  any  hope  that  the  Lord 
would  hear  him,  he  fasted  and  wept 
and  prayed,  and  refused  to  be  com- 
forted. But  as  soon  as  the  Lord  had 
decided  the  matter,  and  taken  away 
the  child,  he  submitted,  with  sweet 
resignation  to  the  Divine  will." 

"But,  mother,  it  seems  to  me  that 
he  did  not  show  a  right  spirit  before 
the  child  died." 

"I  think  he  did,  my  dear;  he  did 
not  know  certainly  but  the  Lord 
might  be  entreated  for  the  child  ;  and 
until  the  will  of  the  Lord  was  made 
known,  he  w^as  not  required  to  sub- 
mit to  it.  But  as  soon  as  the  Lord 
made  known  his  will,  so  that  there 
was  no  doubt  about  it,  he  was  satis- 
fied, and  rose  up  and  worshipped  the 
Lord,  who  had  afflicted  him.  And 
we  should  do  the  same.  While  there 
is  any  reason  to  hope  that  the  Lord 


ON    PRAYER.  35 

will  give  us  what  we  desire,  we 
ought  to  pray  as  David'  did.  But, 
when  the  Lord  makes  known  his  de- 
termination not  to  give  us.  what  we 
ask,  then  w^e  should  be  satisfied,  and 
worship  Him  with  humble  submis- 
sion. The  Apostle  Paul,  also  once 
prayed,  without  receiving  what  he 
asked  for.  He  says,  after  he  had 
seen  a  wonderful  vision  of  the  glory 
of  God,  there  was  given  to  him  a 
thorn  in  the  flesh,  to  keep  him  hum- 
ble." 

"  What  was  that,  mother?" 
'*  I  cannot  tell  you,  my  dear.  It 
was  something  that  was  a  trial  to  him, 
but  he  does  not  tell  us  Avhat  it  was. 
He  says  he  prayed  to  the  Lord  three 
times,  to  take  it  away  from  him  ;  but 
the  Lord  refused  to  take  it  away,  but 
told  him  he  would  give  him  grace  to 
bear  it.  This  was  a  case  where  the 
will  of  God  was  not  made  known ; 
and  Paul  did  right  to  pray  ;  but  you 
see  that  the  general  promises  of  God, 


36  CONVERSATIONS 

that  he  will  answer  the  prayers  of 
his  people,  did  not  apply  to  this  case. 
He  saw  that  it  was  not  for  the  good 
of  the  apostle's  own  soul  to  give  him 
what  he  asked ;  and  so  he  did  not 
do  it.  But  the  best  example,  to  show 
how  we  should  feel  when  we  pray, 
is  that  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  the  gar- 
den of  Gethsemane.  It  w^as  on  that 
dreadful  night  when  he  was  betrayed. 
'  And  he  prayed,  saying,  0  my  Fa- 
ther, if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass 
from  me  !  nevertheless,  not  as  I  will, 
but  as  thou  wilt'  He  submitted  his 
will  entirely  to  the  will  of  his  Father ; 
yet  he  was  '  in  an  agony,  and  prayed 
more  earnestly,'  '  with  strong  crying 
and  tears.'  " 

''And  did  not  God  hear  his  prayers, 
mother?" 

"  I  suppose  he  did  ;  for  when  Jesus 
raised  up  Lazarus  from  the  dead,  he 
said  to  the  Father,  *I  knew  that  thou 
hearest  me  always.'  And  St.  Paul 
says, '  he  was  heard  in  that  he  feared:' 


ON    PRAYER.  ■        37 

and  St.  Luke  says,  an  angel  came 
and  strengthened  him.  But  now, 
my  dear,  we  have  talked  a  long  while. 
You  may  repeat  your  verse,  and  we 
will  kneel  down  and  pray,  commit- 
ting ourselves  to  the  care  of  our  kind 
heavenly  Father,  and  then  we  will 
go  to  rest." 

''  Well,  mother,  I  remember  a  verse 
that  just  suits  what  we  have  been 
talking  about. 

"  0  Lord,  thy  Holy  Spirit  give, 

To  teach  me  how  to  pray  aright ; 
Whate'er  amiss  I  ask,  forgive, 

And  grant  me  favour  in  thy  sight." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

"WE    MUST    PRAY    IX    FAITH. 

"  Mother,  I  want  to  hear  more 
about  prayer.  Is  there  any  thing 
more  necessary,  besides  what  you 
have  told  me,  in  order  to  pray  aright?" 

"  Yes,  my  dear,  many  more  things 
4 


38  CONVERSATIONS 

are  necessary ;  but  1  will  tell  you  but 
one  of  them  now.  We  must  pray 
IN  FAITH.  St.  James  says,  '  If  any 
of  you  lack  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of 
God,  that  giveth  to  all  men  liberally, 
and  upbraideth  not ;  and  it  shall  be 
given  him.  But  let  him  ask  in  faith, 
nothing  wavering.  For  he  that  wa- 
vereth  is  like  a  wave  of  the  sea,  driven 
with  the  wind  and  tossed.  For  let 
not  that  man  think  that  he  shall  re- 
ceive any  thing  of  the  Lord.'  " 

"  What  is  it  to  ask  in  faith,  mo- 
ther ?     I  do  not  understand  it." 

*'  My  dear,  I  suppose  you  will 
never  fully  understand  it,  till  you 
have  experienced  it  yourself.  The 
faith  which  is  necessary,  in  order  to 
have  our  prayers  answered,  is  confi- 
dence in  the  promises  of  God :  firmly 
believing  that  he  will  do  just  as  he 
says.  How  do  you  feel,  my  dear, 
when  I  promise  you  any  thing?" 

**  I  feel  certain  that  I  shall  have  it; 


ON   PRAYER.  39 

for  I  know  that  you  always  do  as  you 
say." 

"  Well,  how  much  more  certain, 
then,  should  you  be,  that  God  will 
do  as  he  says ;  for  he  is  a  God  of 
truth ;  he  cannot  lie.  And  I  have 
already  told  you  how  many  times  he 
has  promised  to  hear  and  answer  the 
prayers  of  his  children.  I  will  now 
mention  another  promise,  in  which 
faith  is  made  the  condition  upon 
which  Jesus  promises  that  the  prayers 
of  his  disciples  shall  be  answered. 
'  And  all  things  whatsoever  ye  shall 
ask  in  prayer,  believing,  ye  shall  re- 
ceive.' And  this  is  a  very  reasonable 
condition.  Suppose  I  should  promise 
to  give  you  some  particular  things, 
whenever  you  ask  me  for  them  ;  and 
should  hear  you  saying  to  your  sister, 
'  I  do  not  believe  mother  will  give 
me  the  things  she  promised;'  and 
then  you  come  to  me,  and  in  a  cold 
and  heartless  way,  ask  me  for  them, 
as  though  you  had  no  confidence  in 


40  CONVERSATIONS 

my  promises,  and  did  not  expect  what 
you  were  asking  for :  do  you  think 
this  would  be  treating  me  well?" 

"  No,  mother ;  it  would  be  show- 
ing that  I  did  not  believe  w^hat  you 
said.  It  would  be  treating  you  very 
ill ;  and  it  would  not  be  right  for  you 
to  give  me  what  I  asked  for.  I  should 
think  your  promises  would  not  bind 
you  to  give  them,  for  such  asking." 

''  Well,  you  sec  that  God  has  made 
confidence  in  his  word  the  condition 
upon  which  he  promises  to  answer 
our  prayers.  He  sees  into  our  hearts 
all  the  time ;  and  if  we  do  not  believe 
his  word,  or  if  we  doubt  whether  he 
will  do  as  he  says,  he  knows  it.  He 
is  very  jealous  of  his  honour,  and  it 
would  not  be  consistent  for  him  to 
give  any  thing  to  a  person  who  has 
not  confidence  enough  in  him  to  be- 
lieve that  he  will  do  as  he  says  he 
will.  I  suppose  there  is  no  sin  more 
odious  in  the  sight  of  God  than  nn- 
belief,  or  want  of  confidence  in  Him. 


ON    PRAYER.  41 

It  is  very  displeasing  to  us,  when  any 
person  will  not  believe  what  we  say." 

''O  yes,  mother;  little  Ann  Thomp- 
son would  not  believe  what  I  said, 
and  I  felt  very  much  grieved.  She 
could  not  have  offended  me  more." 

"  Well,  if  you  cannot  bear  to  have 
your  word  doubted,  think  how  offen- 
sive it  must  be  to  the  great  God  of 
truth,  to  have  the  truth  of  his  promi- 
ses doubted." 

"  Mother,  can  you  tell  me  about 
any  persons  mentioned  in  the  Bible, 
who  prayed  in  faith?" 

"  Yes,  my  dear ;  I  have  a  great 
many  things  of  this  kind  to  tell  you. 
All  the  stories  that  I  am  going  to  tell 
you,  will  be  examples  of  the  praijer 
of  faith.  But,  as  I  want  to  use  most 
of  them  for  explaining  other  points, 
which  I  mean  to  talk  about,  I  will 
now  only  tell  you  two  or  three  of 
them.  The  apostle  James,  speaking 
of  the  prayer  of  faith,  says,  '  Elias 

was  a  man  subject  to  like  passions  as 

4* 


42  CONVERSATIONS 

we  are,  and  he  prayed  earnestly  that  it 
might  not  rain  ;  and  it  rained  not  ou 
the  earth,  by  the  space  of  three  years 
and  six  months.  And  he  prayed 
again,  and  the  heavens  gave  rain,  and 
the  earth  brought  forth  her  fruit.'  " 

"  What  did  he  pray  that  it  might 
not  rain  for,  mother  V 

"  Ahab,  the  King  of  Israel,  was  a 
very  wicked  man.  He  established 
the  worship  of  the  idol  called  Baal, 
and  persecuted  and  killed  the  pro- 
phets of  the  Lord.  And  Elijah  went 
to  him,  and  told  him  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord,  that,  on  account  of  his 
great  wickedness,  there  should  be  no 
dew  nor  rain,  except  as  he  prayed  for 
it.  And  Elijah  prayed  to  the  Lord  not 
to  send  any  rain  upon  the  earth  ; 
and  there  was  none  for  three  years 
and  six  months.  You  see  what 
strong  faith  he  had ;  for,  if  he  had 
not  believed  that  the  Lord  would  cer- 
tainly have  heard  his  prayer,  he 
would  not  have  ventured  to  tell  Ahab 
that  there  would  not  be  rain." 


'  ON    PRAYER.^  43 

"  Well,  mother,  please  to  tell  me 
about  his  praying  for  rain,  after- 
wards." 

"  There  is  something  very  striking 
about  that,  my  dear,  which  I.  want  to 
tell  you  when  we  come  to  talk  about 
persevering  in  prayer  ;  and  so  I  will 
not  speak  of  it  now.  There  is  a 
beautiful  example  of  the  prayer  of 
faith,  related  in  the  fourteenth  chap- 
ter of  the  second  book  of  Chronicles. 
Asa,  King  of  Judah,  was  a  pious 
man,  who  feared  the  Lord.  And 
Zerah,  the  Ethiopian,  a  wicked 
heathen,  came  to  fight  against  Asa, 
with  an  army  of  a  million  of  men, 
and  three  hundred  chariots.  Asa 
had  but  little  more  than  half  that 
number  of  men,  in  his  arm.y.  But, 
he  trusted  in  the  Lord.  And  before 
he  went  to  the  battle,  he  prayed  to 
the  Lord,  and  said,  '  Lord,  it  is 
nothing  with  thee  to  help,  whether 
with  many,  or  with  them  that  have 
no  power :  help  us,  0  Lord,  our  God; 


44  CONVEKSATIONS 

for  we  rest  on  thee,  and  in  thy  name 
we  go  against  this  multitude.  O 
Lord,  thou  art  our  God;  let  not  man 
prevail  against  thee.'  " 

"  O  that  was  a  beautiful  prayer, 
mother." 

"Yes,  my  dear;  and  you  see  that 
the  most  striking  thing  about  it  is, 
strong  confidence  in  God.  He  did 
not  trust  in  the  strength  of  his  ar- 
mies, nor  in  any  preparations  which 
he  had  made  to  defend  himself  and 
his  coimtry,  against  the  great  army 
that  was  coming  to  fight  against  him. 
He  knew  that  the  Lord  directs  all 
things,  and  that  he  was  able,  by  the 
feeblest  means,  to  overthrow  this 
great  multitude  ;  and  he  rested  with 
cheerful  confidence  upon  his  God : 
'  It  is  nothing  for  thee  to  help,  whe- 
ther with  many,  or  with  them  that 
have  no  power.'  This  is  an  excel- 
lent pattern  of  Christian  feeling.  We 
are  apt  to  be  discouraged,  and  think 
it  is  of  no  use  to  pray,  because  the 


ON   PRAYER.  45 

blessing  we  need  is  a  great  one,  or 
because  there  are  difficulties  in  the 
way.  But  such  faith  as  Asa  had, 
would  remove  all  our  discourage- 
ments. It  is  just  as  easy  for  God  to 
give  a  great  blessing  as  a  small  one ; 
and  whatever  may  be  the  difficulties 
in  the  way,  he  is  able  to  remove  them, 
if  we  will  only  believe.  This  is  the 
way  Christians  should  feel,  when 
they  are  praying  for  a  revival  of  reli- 
gion. They  often  get  discouraged, 
because  there  are  so  few  Christians 
awake  and  lively  in  religion,  and  be- 
cause the  people  are  so  careless  and 
wicked.  But,  if  they  had  Asa's  faith, 
it  would  overcome  all  their  fears. 

"  The  Lord  can  clear  the  darkest  skies, 
Can  give  us  day  for  night." 

"  And  did  the  Lord  answer  the 
prayer  of  Asa,  mother." 

"Yes,  my  dear;  audit  is  in  the 
Bible,  for  our  encouragement.  The 
Lord  helped  the  children  of  Israel, 
and  they  beat  this  great  army,  and 


46  CONVERSATIONS 

overthrew  them.  There  is  another 
example,  something  like  this,  in  the 
twentieth  chapter  of  the  same  book. 
The  Moabites  and  Ammonites  came 
with  a  great  army  to  fight  against 
Jehoshaphat,  another  good  king  of 
Judah.  And  when  Jehoshaphat 
heard  that  they  were  coming,  he  was 
afraid,  and  set  himself  to  seek  the 
Lord,  and  proclaimed  a  fast,  through- 
out all  Judah.  And  the  people  came 
together  to  ask  help  of  the  Lord.'' 

"And  should  not  we  do  like  them, 
mother,  when  we  are  in  difficulty?" 

''Yes,  my  dear,  if  people  would 
always  ask  help  of  the  Lord,  they 
M^ould  get  along  much  better  than 
they  do.  When  the  people  had 
come  together,  Jehoshaphat  stood  and 
prayed,  saying:  'O  Lord  God  of 
our  fathers,  art  not  thou  God  in  hea- 
ven ?  and  rulest  not  thou  over  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  heathen?  and  in 
thine  hand  is  there  not  power  and 
might,  so  that  none  is  able  to  with- 


ON   PRAYER.  47 

stand  thee  ?  Art  not  thou  our  God, 
who  didst  drive  out  the  inhabitants 
of  this  land  before  thy  people  Israel, 
and  gavest  to  the  seed  of  Abraham, 
thy  friend,  forever !  And  they  dwelt 
therein,  and  have  built  thee  a  sanc- 
tuary therein  for  thy  name,  saying. 
If,  v^hen  evil  cometh  upon  us,  as  the 
sword,  judgment,  or  pestilence,  or 
famine,  we  stand  before  this  house, 
and  in  thy  presence,  (for  thy  name 
is  in  this  house,)  and  cry  unto  thee 
in  our  affliction,  then  thou  wilt  hear 
and  help.  And  now,  behold,  the 
children  of  Ammon  and  Moab  and 
mount  Seir,  whom  thou  wouldest  not 
let  Israel  invade,  when  they  came 
out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  but  they 
turned  from  them,  and  destroyed 
them  not:  Behold,  I  say,  ho7V  they 
reward  us,  to  come  to  cast  us  out  of 
thy  possession,  w^hichthou  hast  given 
us  to  inherit.  O  our  God,  wilt  thou 
not  judge  them?  for  we  have  no  might 
against  this  great  company  that  com- 


48  CONVERSATIONS 

eth  against  iis ;  neither  know  we  what 
to  do  :  but  our  eyes  are  upon  thee.' 
This  is  an  excellent  pattern  for  the 
prayer  of  a  Christian,  pleading  for  the 
blessing  of  God  upon  himself  and 
others.  He  first  pleads  the  promises 
of  God,  and  then  describes  his  critical 
circumstances,  and  tells  his  wants. 
Then,  in  conclusion,  he  confesses  his 
own  helplessness,  and  turns,  with 
strong  confidence  to  God,  as  his  only 
helper  :  '  We  have  no  might  against 
this  great  company  that  cometh 
against  us  ;  neither  know  we  what  to 
do :  hut  our  eyes  are  upon  thee'  Here 
was  faith,  which  has  power  with 
God.'' 

''And  did  the  Lord  answer  his 
prayer  too,  mother  ?" 

"  Yes ;  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  came 
upon  the  prophet  Jahaziel,  and  he 
said  to  Jehoshaphat  and  the  people,  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord,  '  Be  not  afraid 
nor  dismayed,  by  reason  of  this  great 
multitude,  for  the  battle  is  not  youfs, 


ON    PRAYER.  49 

hat  God's.''  This  is  what  Christians 
are  so  apt  to  forget.  They  become 
discouraged,  because  they  have  no 
strength  in  themselves;  and  forget 
that  their  strength  is  in  God.  O,  if 
they  would  always  remember  this, 
how  mightily  would  the  work  of  the 
Lord  go  on !  But,  the  Lord  showed 
the  people  that  their  strength  was 
not  in  their  numbers,  nor  in  their 
armies ;  but  in  having  the  Lord  on 
their  side.  They  went  out  the  next 
day  to  fight  against  their  enemies. 
And  as  they  w^ent  along,  Jehoshaphat 
said  to  the  people,  '  Hear  me,  O 
Judah,  and  ye  inhabitants  of  Jeru- 
salem :  believe  in  the  Lord  your  God, 
so  shall  ye  be  established;  believe 
his  prophets,  so  shall  ye  prosper.' 
Then  'he  appointed  singers  to  the 
Lord,  that  should  praise  the  beauty 
of  His  holiness,  as  they  went  out  be- 
fore the  army,  and  should  say,  Praise 
the  Lord;  for  his  mercy  endureth 
forever.'  And  when  they  began  to 
5 


50  CONVERSATIONS 

sin^,  the  Lord  sent  confusion  among 
their  enemies,  so  that  the  Ammonites 
turned  against  the  Moabites,  till  they 
had  killed  them ;  and  then  they 
turned  to  killing  one  another ;  so  that 
when  Jehoshaphat's  army  came  in 
sight,  the  great  multitude  of  their 
enemies  were  all  dead  bodies,  lying 
on  the  ground." 

*'0  how  wonderful,  mother!" 

''  Yes  ;  but  it  was  all  in  answer  to 
the  prayer  of  faith." 

''  Can  you  tell  me  any  story  about 
the  prayer  of  faith,  from  the  New 
Testament,  mother?" 

"  Yes ;  in  the  fourth  chapter  of 
Acts,  it  is  related  that  the  rulers  of 
the  Jews,  put  Peter  and  John  in  pri- 
son ;  and  the  next  day,  they  brought 
them  out,  and  threatened  them,  and 
commanded  them  not  to  preach,  or  to 
teach  any  more  in  the  name  of  Jesus. 
And  they  went  to  their  own  company, 
and  told  all  that  the  rulers  had  said 
to  them.     And  when  they  heard  it, 


ON   PRAYER.  51 

they  prayed  and  said,  '  Lord,  thou 
art  God,  which  hast  made  Heaven, 
and  Earth,  and  the  Sea,  and  all  that 
in  them  is.  Who  by  the  mouth  of  thy 
servant  David  hast  said,  Why  did  the 
heathen  rage,  and  the  people  imagine 
vain  things  ?  The  kings  of  the  earth 
stood  up,  and  the  rulers  were  gather- 
ed together  against  the  Lord,  and 
against  his  Christ.  For  of  a  truth 
against  thy  holy  child  Jesus,  whom 
thou  hast  anointed,  both  Herod,  and 
Pontius  Pilate,  with  the.  Gentiles, 
and  the  people  of  Israel,  were  gather- 
ed together,  for  to  do  whatsoever  thy 
hand  and  thy  counsel  determined 
before  to  be  done.  And  now.  Lord, 
behold  their  threatenings  :  and  grant 
unto  thy  servants,  that  with  all  bold- 
ness they  may  speak  thy  word,  by 
stretching  forth  thine  hand  to  heal ; 
and  that  signs  and  wonders  may  be 
done  by  the  name  of  thy  holy  child 
Jesus.'  The  apostles  had  strong 
confidence  in  God;   and  he  heard 


52  CONVERSATIONS 

them  ;  and  the  place  where  Ihey  were 
was  shaken ;  and  they  w^ere  all  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost." 


CHAPTER  V. 

WE    MUST    PRAT    WITH    RIGHT    FEELINGS. 

"  Coi\iE,  m)^  dear  mother,  I  want  to 
hear  more  about  prayer." 

"Well,  my  dear;- this  time,  we 
will  talk  about  the  feelings  we  ought 
to  have  towards  God,  wdien  we  pray. 
The  prophet  Isaiah  says,  '  Thus 
saith  the  high  and  lofty  One,  that 
inhabiteth  eternity,  whose  name  is 
Holy  ;  I  dwell  in  the  high  and  holy 
place,  with  him  also  that  is  of  a  con- 
trite and  humble  spirit,  tb  revive  the 
spirit  of  the  humble,  and  to  revive  the 
heart  of  the  contrite  ones.'  " 

"I  do  not  know  what  contrite 
means  mother." 

"To  have  a  contrite  spirit,  my  dear, 


ON    PRAYER.  53 

is  to  feel  sorry,  and  to  be  deeply 
humbled,  on  account  of  having  sinned 
against  God ;  and  to  feel  broken- 
hearted, and  submissive  to  God,  will- 
ing to  be  pardoned  in  any  way  that 
pleases  Him.  Hard-hearted  and  im- 
penitent sinners  feel  angry  with  God, 
because  he  has  threatened  to  punish 
them  in  hell,  if  they  do  not  repent, 
and  believe  in  Jesus;  and  they  are 
too  proud  to  accept  of  pardon  on  ac- 
count of  what  Christ  has  done.  They 
want  to  do  something  to  deserve  sal- 
vation, so  that  they  can  have  the 
praise  themselves.  But,  a  contrite 
person,  feels  sensible  that  he  deserves 
to  be  punished  in  hell  forever ;  and 
he  humbles  himself  in  the  dust  in 
the  presence  of  God.  And  he  is 
willing  and  glad  to  be  forgiven  on  ac- 
count of  the  merits  of  Christ.  A 
most  beautiful  example  of  this  feel- 
ing is  contained  in  the  tifty-lirst 
Psalm.  This  is  David's  prayer, 
when  his   heart  was  subdued  and 


54  CONVERSlTlOxNS 

broken,  under  a  deep  sense  of  his 
sins.     You  may  read  it,  my  dear." 

"  Have  mercy  upon  mc,  O  God ! 
According  to  thy  loving-kindness  : 
According  unto  the  multitude  of  thy  tender  mercies 
Elot  out  my  transgressions. 
Wash  me  throughly  from  mine  iniquity, 
And  cleanse  me  from  my  sin. 

For  I  acknowledge  my  transgressions : 
And  my  sin  is  ever  before  me. 
Against  thee,  thee  only,  have  I  sinned, 
And  done  this  evil  in  thy  sight : 
That  thou  mightest  be  justified  when  thou  speakest, 
And  be  clear  when  thou  judgest. 
Behold !  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity  ; 
And  in  sin  did  ni)'^  mother  conceive  me. 

Behold  !  thou  desirest  truth  in  the  inward  parts  : 
And  in  the  hidden  part  thou  shalt  make  me  to  know 

wisdom. 
Purge  me  with  hyssop,  and  I  shall  be  clean  : 
Wash  me,  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow. 
Make  mc  to  hear  joy  and  gladness  ; 
That  the  bones  which  thou  hast  broken  may  rejoice. 
Hide  thy  face  from  my  sins, 
And  blot  out  all  mme  iniquities. 
Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God ; 
And  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me. 
Cast  me  not  away  from  thy  presence ; 


ON    PRAYER.  55 

And  take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me. 
Restore  unto  mc  the  joy  of  thy  salvation  ; 
And  uphold  me  with  thy  free  Spirit. 

Then  will  I  teach  transgressors  thy  ways ; 
And  sinners  shall  he  converted  unto  thee. 
Deliver  me  from  blood-guiltiness, 
O  God,  thou  God  of  my  salvation  ! 
And  my  tongue  shall  sing  aloud  of  thy  righteousness. 
O  Lord  !  open  thou  my  lips  ; 
And  ray  mouth  shall  show  forth  thy  praise. 
For  thou  desirest  not  sacrifice ; — else  would  I  give  it  : 
Thou  delightest  not  in  burnt  offering. 
The  sacrifices  of  God  are  a  broken  spirit : 
A  broken  and  a  contrite  heart,  O  God !  thou  wilt  not 
despise. 

Do  good  in  thy  good  pleasure  unto  Zion  : 
Build  thou  the  walls  of  Jerusalem. 
Then  shalt  thou  be  pleased  with  the  sacrifices  of  right- 
eousness, 
With  burnt  offering  and  whole  burnt  offering  : 
Then  shall  they  offer  bullocks  upon  thine  altar." 

"  You  observe  that  David  begins 
this  prayer,  by  crying  out  for  mercy, 
and  beseeching  God  to  cleanse  him 
from  his  sins.  He  then  goes  on  to 
confess  his  sins,  with  the  deepest  hu- 
miliation.    And  here   is  one  thing 


56  CONVERSATIONS 

that  I  wish  you  to  notice  particularly. 
You  will  recollect  that  the  particular 
sin  which  broue^ht  this  distress  upon 
him,  was  committed  against  another 
man  ;  yet  he  had  such  a  sense  of  the 
exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin,  as  com- 
mitted against  God,  that  he  cries  out 
in  the  bitterness  of  his  soul,  '  Against 
thcc,  thee  only,  have  I  sinned,  and 
done  this  evil  in  thy  sight.'  Then 
he  bewails  his  sinfulness,  confesses 
that,  as  God  looks  at  the  heart,  no 
outw^ard  reformation  will  answer,  and 
beseeches  God,  not  only  to  forgive 
his  sin,  but  to  create  in  him  a  clean 
heart,  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within 
him.  He  entreats  the  Lord  to  re- 
store him  to  his  favour,  and  promises 
then  to  labour  for  the  conversion  of 
sinners ;  and  concludes  with  praying 
for  the  prosperity  of  the  church.  If 
you  feel  as  David  did,  when  he  offer 
ed  up  this  prayer,  the  Lord  will  not 
fail  to  answer  you." 


ON   PRAYER.  57 

"  Must  I  confess  my  sins,  when  I 
pray,  mother?" 

"  Yes,  my  dear ;  Solomon  says, 
He  that  covereth  his  sins,  shall  not 
prosper;  but  whoso  confesseth  and 
forsaketh  them  shall  find  mercy. 
You  should  not  only  confess  your 
sins  in  a  general  way,  but  you  should 
think  over  your  actions,  and  confess 
before  God,  every  particular  thing 
that  you  can  remember,  that  3^ou 
have  done  wrong,  and  ask  Him  to 
forgive  you,  for  Christ's  sake.  You 
must  not  only  confess  them  in  words ; 
but  you  must  feel  heart-broken  on 
account  of  them.  So  vou  see  David 
felt." 

"  Can  you  tell  me  about  any  other 
persons,  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  that 
prayed  in  this  Vv'ay?" 

"  Yes,  my  dear,  turn  to  the  ninth 
chapter  of  Daniel,  and  you  will  find 
another  prayer,  made  with  the  same 
contrite  spirit,  and  very  much  like 
David's,  except  that  Daniel  is  con- 


58'  CONVERSATIONS 

fessing  the  sins  of  the  church,  as  well 
as  his  own.     You  may  read  it. 

"  O  Lord,  the  great  and  dreadful 
God,  keeping  the  covenant  and  mercy 
to  them  that  love  him,  and  to  them 
that  keep  his  commandments;  We 
have  sinned,  and  have  committed 
iniquity,  and  have  done  wickedly, 
and  have  rebelled,  even  by  departing 
from  thy  precepts  and  from  thy  judg- 
naents:  Neither  have  we  hearkened 
unto  thy  servants  the  prophets,  which 
spake  in  thy  name  to  our  kings,  our 
princes,  and  our  fathers,  and  to  all  the 
people  of  the  land.  O  Lord,  right- 
eousness helongeth  unto  thee,  but  un- 
to us  confusion  of  faces,  as  at  this  day ; 
to  the  men  of  Judah,  and  to  the  in- 
habitants of  Jerusalem,  and  unto  all 
Israel,  that  are  near,  and  that  ore  far 
off,  through  all  the  countries  whither 
thou  hast  driven  them,  because  of 
their  trespass  that  they  have  tres- 
passed against  thee.  O  Lord,  to  us 
lelongeth  confusion  of  face,  to  our 


ON   PRAYER.  59 

kings,  to  our  princes,  and  to  our  fa- 
thers, because  we  have  sinned  against 
thee.  To  the  Lord  our  God  helong 
mercies  and  forgivenesses,  though  we 
have  rebelled  against  him ;  Neither 
have  we  obeyed  the  voice  of  the 
Lord  our  God,  to  w^alk  in  his  laws, 
which  he  set  before  us  by  his  servants 
the  prophets.  Yea,  all  Israel  have 
transgressed  thy  law,  even  by  depart- 
ing, that  they  might  not  obey  thy 
voice ;  therefore  the  curse  is  poured 
upon  us,  and  the  oath  that  is  written 
in  the  law  of  Moses  the  servant  of 
God,  because  we  have  sinned  against 
him.  And  he  hath  confirmed  his 
words,  which  he  spake  against  us, 
and  against  our  judges  that  judged 
us,  by  bringing  upon  us  a  great  evil : 
for  under  the  whole  heaven  hath  not 
been  done  as  hath  been  done  upon 
Jerusalem.  As  it  is  written  in  the 
law  of  Moses,  all  this  evil  is  come 
upon  us :  yet  made  we  not  our  prayer 
before  the  Lord  our  God,  that  w^e 


60  CONVERSATIONS 

might  turn  from  our  iniquities,  and 
•understand  thy  truth.  Therefore 
hath  the  Lord  watched  upon  the 
evil,  and  brought  it  upon  us  :  for  the 
Lord  our  God  is  righteous  in  ail  his 
works  which  he  doeth :  for  we  obey- 
ed not  his  voice.  And  now,  O  Lord 
our  God,  that  hast  brought  thy  peo- 
ple forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt 
with  a  mighty  hand,  and  hast  gotten 
thee  renow^n,  as  at  this  day  ;  w^e  have 
sinned,  we  have  done  wickedly.  O 
Lord,  according  to  all  thy  righteous- 
ness, I  beseech  thee,  let  thine  anger 
and  thy  fury  be  turned  away  from 
thy  city  Jerusalem,  thy  holy  moun- 
tain :  because  for  our  sins,  and  for 
the  iniquities  of  our  fathers,  Jeru- 
salem and  thy  people  ai'e  become  a  re- 
proach to  all  that  ore  about  us.  Now 
therefore,  O  our  God,  hear  the  pray- 
er of  thy  servant,  and  his  supplica- 
tions, and  cause  thy  face  to  shine 
upon  thy  sanctuary  that  is  desolate, 
for  the  Lord's  sake.     0  my  God,  in- 


ON   PRAYER.  61 

cline  thine  ear,  and  hear ;  open  thine 
eyes,  and  behold  our  desolations,  and 
the  city  which  is  called  by  thy  name : 
for  we  do  not  present  our  supplica- 
tions before  thee  for  our  righteous- 
nesses, but  for  thy  great  mercies.  O 
Lord,  hear;  0  Lord,  forgive;  O  Lord, 
hearken  and  do;  defer  not,  for  thine 
own  sake,  0  my  God :  for  thy  city 
and  thy  people  are  called  by  thy 
name." 

"  There  is  another  prayer,  in  the 
ninth  chapter  of  Ezra,  very  much 
like  this  ;  w^hich  is  also  an  excellent 
pattern  for  Christians,  when  praying 
for  a  revival  of  religion,  Ezra  was 
deeply  grieved  and  humbled,  because 
of  the  sins  of  God's  people,  so  that 
he  rent  his  clothes,  and  plucked  off 
the  hair  of  his  head,  and  sat  dowai 
astonished.  And  after  mourning  in 
that  w^ay  all  day,  he  rose  up  and  fell 
on  his  knees,  and  said,  '  0  my  God! 
I  am  ashamed  and  blush  to  lift  up 
my  face  to  thee,  my  God !  for  our 
6 


62  CONVERSATIONS 

iniquities  are  increased  over  our  head, 
and  our  trespass  is  grown  up  unto 
the  heavens.'  Then  he  goes  on  to 
confess  the  particular  sins  of  the  peo- 
ple ;  to  call  to  mind  the  judgments 
w^hich  had  come  upon  them;  and 
yet  to  acknowledge  that  the  Lord 
had  punished  them  less  than  thev 
deserved.  It  is  only  when  Christians 
come  to  this  state  of  humiliation ; 
this  deep  sense  of  their  sins,  and 
their  unworthiness,  that  they  can  ex- 
pect the  Lord  to  pour  out  his  spirit, 
and  revive  his  work." 

"  Well,  mother,  can  you  give  me 
some  more  examples  of  persons  pray- 
ing for  tlmnselveSy  in  this  way?" 

*'  Yes ;  there  was  Manasseh,  King 
of  Judah.  He  was  a  very  wicked 
man.  He  set  up  idols  in  the  house 
of  God,  and  worshipped  them;  and 
he  '  shed  innocent  blood,  very  much, 
till  he  had  filled  Jerusalem  with  sor- 
row from  one  end  to  the  other.'  And 
the  Lord  sent  the  King  of  Babylon 


ON   PRAYER.  63 

against  him ;  and  he  took  him  and 
bound  him  with  chains,  and  carried 
him  to  Babylon.  Then  Manasseh 
thought  of  his  sins,  and  was  very 
sorry,  and  humbled  himself  greatly 
before  God,  and  prayed  to  him.  And 
the  Lord  heard  his  prayer,  and 
brought  him  again  to  Jerusalem,  and 
made  him  King  again. '^ 

''  0  mother  !  how  wonderful  that 
is,  that  the  Lord  would  forgive  such 
a  wicked  man !" 

"  Yes,  my  dear ;  it  shows  the  won- 
derful goodness  of  God  towards  sin- 
ners, and  his  willingness  to  forgive 
those  that  repent.  The  apostle  John 
says,  '  If  we  confess  our  sins,  he  is 
faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our 
sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  un- 
righteousness.' No  one  need  think 
he  is  too  great  a  sinner  to  be  forgiven. 
The  merits  of  Christ  are  sufficient 
for  the  worst  of  sinners;  and  God 
will  pardon  all  who  truly  repent  and 
come  to  him  in  the  name  of  Christ 


64  CONVERSATIONS 

But,  I  have  one  story  more  to  tell  you, 
which  shows  what  kind  of  feeling 
you  must  have  when  you  pray,  and 
what  spirit  God  will  not  bless.  It  is 
a  parable  that  Jesus  told  to  some  peo- 
ple that  thought  they  were  very  good, 
and  despised  others.'  You  know  a 
parable  is  a  story,  either  real  or  sup- 
posed, told  in  order  to  explain  the 
truth.  In  this  parable,  Jesus  said, 
a  Pharisee  and  a  publican  went  up 
into  the  temple  to  pray,  both  at  the 
sametime.  The  Pharisee  said,  'God, 
I  thank  thee  that  I  am  not  as  other 
men  are,  extortioners,  unjust,  adul- 
terers, or  even  as  this  publican :  I 
fast  twice  in  the  week,  I  give  tithes  of 
all  that  I  possess.'  " 

"I  am  sure  he  was  not  humble, 
mother ;  for  he  was  praising  himself 
ail  the  time.'" 

''  The  Pharisee,  my  dear,  showed 
such  a  spirit  as  God  will  never  bless. 
He  thought  he  was  good  enough.  He 
had  no  sense  of  his  sins,  nor  of  his 


ON   PRAYER.  65 

wants.  He  had  only  to  thank  God, 
for  what  he  was,  in  such  a  way  as  to 
take  all  the  praise  to  himself.  Now, 
if  you  think  in  your  heart,  '  0  how 
much  better  I  am  than  the  wicked 
children  in  the  streets.  I  go  to  Sab- 
bath-school, and  to  church;  I  read 
my  Bible  and  pray  to  God;  and  I 
think  God  will  hear  my  prayers  :'  you 
may  be  sure  he  will  not  hear  them. 
The  Lord  Jesus  sharply  reproves  the 
church  at  Laodicea,  because  they 
had  a  good  opinion  of  themselves,  and 
did  not  feel  their  wants .  '  Thou  say- 
est,  I  am  rich,  and  increased  with 
goods,  and  have  need  of  nothing ;  and 
knowest  not  that  thou  art  wretched, 
and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind, 
and  naked.'" 

"  But  how  did  the  publican  pray, 
mother?" 

''  He  w^as  borne  down  with  a  sense 
of  his  sins;  and  he  stood  afar-off, 
and  would  not  lift  up  so  much  as  his 
eyes  to  heaven,  but  smote  upon  his 


66  CONVERSATIONS 

breast,  saying,  '  God  be  merciful  to 
ME  A  sinner.'  AdcI  Clirist  says,  '  I 
tell  yon,  this  man  went  down  to  his 
house  justified,  rather  than  the  other : 
for  every  one  that  exalte th  himself 
shall  be  abased ;  and  he  that  hum- 
bleth  himself  shall  be  exalted.'  But, 
besides  being  humble,  we  should  pray 
with.  Jilial  feeling,  or  such  a  feeling  as 
a  little  child  has  towards  a  kind  and 
tender  parent.  Do  you  not  remem- 
ber, my  love,  how  you  felt  towards 
your  father,  after  he  had  corrected 
you  for  being  naughty,  and  you  sub- 
mitted to  him,  and  begged  his  par- 
don ;  and  he  forgave  you,  and  receiv- 
ed you  into  his  favour  again  ?" 

"  O  yes,  mother,  I  shall  never  for- 
get how  I  felt  then.  I  felt  very  sorry 
that  I  had  grieved  such  a  kind  father ; 
and  my  heart  almost  broke,  when  he 
forgave  me.  I  loved  him  better  than 
ever ;  and  felt  as  if  I  wanted  to  call 
him  '  my  father."' 

"  Well,  that  is  the  way  you  should 


ON    PRAYER.  67 

feel  towards  your  heavenly  Father. 
The  apostle  John  says,  '  Behold, 
what  manner  of  love  the  Father  hath 
bestowed  upon  us,  that  we  should  be 
called  the  sons  of  God  !'  and  the  apos- 
tle Paul  says,  '  Ye  have  not  received 
the  spirit  of  bondage,  again  to  fear, 
but  ye  have  received  the  spirit  of 
adoption,  whereby  we  cry,  Abba, 
Father.'  And,  in  another  place, 
*  Because  ye  are  sons,  God  hath  sent 
forth  the  spirit  of  his  son  into  your 
hearts,  crying  Abba,  Father.'  You 
will  find  examples  of  this  filial  feel- 
ing, in  the  prayer  of  David,  after 
the  Lord  had  promised  to  establish 
his  kingdom,  in  the  seventh  chapter 
of  the  second  book  of  Samuel ;  in 
the  prayer  of  Solomon,  at  the  dedi- 
cation of  the  temple,  in  the  eighth 
chapter  of  the  first  book  of  Kings; 
in  the  prayers  of  Jesus,  at  the 
resurrection  of  Lazarus,  and  for  his 
disciples,  before  his  crucifixion ;  and 
also,  in  the  prayer  of  the  disciples, 


68  CONVERSATIONS 

when  threatened  by  the  rulers,  al- 
ready mentioned.  But,  there  is  an- 
other feeUng  we  must  have.  We  must 
be  THANKFUL.  '  In  every  thing,  by 
prayer  and  supplication,  with  thanks- 
giving, let  your  request  be  made 
known  unto  God.'  'Continue  in 
prayer,  and  watch  in  the  same,  with 
thanksgiving.^  So  says  the  apostle 
Paul ;  and  Daniel  was  in  the  habit 
of  giving  thanks,  when  he  prayed. 
And,  most  of  the  prayers  mentioned 
in  the  Bible  are  full  of  thanksgivings. 
How  would  you  feel,  my  dear,  if  you 
should  be  very  kind  to  some  poor  lit- 
tle girl,  and  give  her  a  great  many 
good  things  that  she  needed,  and  she 
should  never  once  thank  you  ;  but 
should  keep  begging  for  more,  as  if 
she  thought  she  had  a  right  to  every 
thing  you  had  to  give  ?" 

"  I  should  not  like  it  at  all,  mo- 
ther. I  should  think  she  did  not  de- 
serve  to  have  any  thing." 

"  Well,  just  think  what  God  has 


ON    PRAYER.  69 

done  for  you.  He  made  you,  with  a 
body  and  mind  capable  of  being 
happy.  He  gave  you  kind  parents 
to  take  care  of  )^ou,  when  you  were 
a  little  baby  ;  and  to  teach  you  about 
God  and  Jesus.  He  has  kept  you 
alive,  and  given  you  food  and  cloth- 
mg,  and  a  great  many  good  things, 
while  you  have  been  all  the  time 
sinning  against  him,  and  never 
thanking  him  in  your  heart.  I  sup- 
pose you  would  not  give  any  thing 
more  to  the  little  girl,  after  you  found 
how  unthankful  she  was.  But  God 
is  good  to  the  unthankful,  and  to. the 
evil.  O  think  how  thankful  you 
ought  to  be  to  Him,  for  the  gift  of  his 
dear  Son.  '  God  commendeth  his 
love  to  us,  in  that,  while  we  were  yet 
sinners,  Christ  died  for  us.'  There 
is  perhaps  no  sin,  my  dear,  more  hate- 
ful, both  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man, 
than  the  sin  of  ingratitude.  And  we 
cannot  expect  God  will  give  us  the 
things  we  pray  for,  when  we  are  uiv- 


70  CONVERSATIONS 

thankful  for  what  he  has  already 
given  us." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

■WE  MUST  FORGIVE  OTHERS,  WHEX  WE  PRAT  ;  Alf D 
WE  MUST  FORSAKE  SIX  AND  OBEX  GOD,  IF  WE 
WOULD    HAVE    HIM    ANSWER    OUR    PRATERS. 

"  Mother,  you  told  me  how  I 
must  feel  towards  God,  when  I  pray. 
Will  you  tell  me  how  I  must  feel 
towards  other  people,  too?" 

"  You  must  feel  a  spirit  of  kind- 
ness and  good  will  to  all  mankind. 
That  is  the  spirit  of  the  gospel. 
When  the  angel  came  down  to  bring 
the  news  of  the  birth  of  Jesus,  they 
sung  '  peace  on  earth,  good  will  to 
men ;'  and  the  same  feeling  must  be 
formed  in  every  Christian's  heart." 

''But,  mother,  cousin  Mary  has 
treated  me  very  ill,  and  I  do  not  feel 


ON   PRAYER.  71 

as  if  I  could  speak  to  her.  Will  not 
God  hear  my  prayers,  till  I  feel  kind 
to  her?" 

"  If  she  has  injured  you,  my  dear, 
you  ought  to  forgive  her ;  but  it  is 
very  likely,  that,  if  you  examine  your 
conduct  towards  her,  you  will  find  that 
you  are  to  be  blamed  yourself  But, 
even  if  it  is  not  so;  if  the  blame  is 
all  on  her  side,  you  must  forgive  her. 
If  you  have  any  'hard  feeling'  against 
her,  or  any  other  person,  God  will  not 
hear  your  prayers.  When  you  go  to 
pray,  your  heart  will  be  hard,  and 
you  will  feel  no  sense  of  the  presence 
of  God.  Jesus  says,  we  must  love 
our  enemies,  do  good  to  them  that 
hate  us,  and  pray  for  them  that  treat 
us  ill.  And,  in  another  place,  he 
says,  '  When  ye  stand  praying,  for- 
give, if  ye  have  aught  against  any ; 
that  your  father  also,  which  is  in 
heaven,  may  forgive  you  your  tres- 
passes. But,  if  ye  do  not  forgive, 
neither  will  your  Father  who  is  in 


72  CONVERSATIONS 

Heaven,  forgive  your  trespasses.' 
This  is  very  plain.  If  you  do  not 
forgive  others,  the  Lord  has  declared 
that  he  will  not  forgive  your  sins. 
So  you  see  it  is  in  vain  for  you  to  go 
to  God,  in  prayer,  while  yoii  feel  a 
single  unkind  feeling  towards  any 
person  in  the  world." 

"  O  mother ;  then  I  am  afraid  I 
have  never  prayed  in  my  life!" 

*'Well;  Jesus  told  a  parable,  to 
show  how  unreasonable  it  is  for  us 
to  expect  to  have  our  own  sins  for- 
given, if  we  will  not  forgive  others. 
In  those  days,  kings  often  had  abso- 
lute power  over  their  people,  so  that 
they  could  take  their  lives,  or  sell 
them  into  slavery  whenever  they 
pleased.  And,  Jesus  said,  there  was 
a  certain  king,  who  called  for  a  set- 
tlement with  his  people ;  and  he 
found  one  man  who  owed  him  a  great 
sum  of  money ;  more  than  fifteen 
millions  of  dollars. ' '     ' 

"  Thajt  was  a  great  sum,  mother ; 


ON   PRAYER.  73 

more  than  I  ever  counted  in  my  life. 
How  could  the  man  pay  it?'' 

"He  was  not  able  to  pay  it;  and 
the  king  commanded  that  he  and  his 
wife  and  children  should  be  sold  to 
pay  the  debt." 

"  But  the  man  came  and  fell  down 
before  him,  and  besought  him  to 
have  patience  with  him,  and  he  would 
pay  him  all.  And  the  king  had 
compassion  on  him,  and  forgave  him 
the  debt.'' 

"  O  how  thankful  the  poor  man 
must  have  been,  mother,  when  the 
king  gave  him  so  m,uch  money  !" 

"  We  should  suppose  he  would 
have  been  very  thankful,  my  dear ; 
but  his  actions  did  not  show  it.  For 
he  went  and  found  a  poor  man  that 
owed  him  a  very  small  sum:  about 
fourteen  dollars,  and  he  caught  him 
by  the  throat,  and  told  him  to  pay 
him  what  he  owed.  But  the  poor 
man  had  nothing  to  pay,  and  fell 
down  before  him,  and  begged  him  to 
7 


74  CONVERSATIONS 

have  patience  with  him,  and  he  would 
pay  him  all." 

"  Then,  mother,  I  am  sure  he 
would  remember  the  kind  example 
of  his  king,  and  forgive  the  poor  man 
the  little  debt,  after  the  king  had  for- 
given him  so  much." 

''  No,  my  dear ;  he  had  not  the 
least  regard  for  the  golden  rule ;  and 
he  forgot  how  he  felt,  when  he  and 
his  family  were  about  to  be  sold  into 
slavery,  to  pay  his  great  debt.  He 
would  not  hearken  to  the  poor  man's 
entreaties;  but  w^ent  and  cast  him 
into  prison,  till  he  should  pay  the 
debt." 

"O  what  a  cruel,  ungrateful  man, 
mother !  I  am  sure  everybody 
would  hate  such  a  man." 

''Yet,  my  dear,  that  was  not  so 
bad,  in  the  sight  of  God,  as  it  is  for 
us  to  refuse  to  forgive  those  that  in- 
jure us.  We  owe  a  debt  to  God,  far 
greater  than  this  man  owed  to  his 
king.  We  have  disobeyed  him,  while 


ON   PRAYER.  75 

he  was  doing  us  good.  We  have 
sinned  against  him  all  our  lives. 
Think  how  many  years  old  you  are ; 
and  then  reckon  up  the  days,  and  the 
hours,  and  the  minutes,  and  the 
seconds ;  and  then  rememher,  that 
all  this  time  you  have  been  guilty  of 
sinning  against  God.  You  will  find 
that  your  debt,  instead  of  being  a 
million^  is  more  than  you  can  calcu- 
late. It  is  like  the  sand  upon  the  sea- 
shore, or  the  stars  in  the  sky,  which 
cannot  be  counted.  Yet,  all  this, 
God  is  willing  to  forgive  you,  for  the 
sake  of  his  dear  Son.  Think,  then, 
how  mean,  and  vile,  and  odious  you 
will  appear  in  his  sight,  if  you  will 
not  forgive  the  little  injury  you  may 
have  received  from  one  of  your  fel- 
low-creatures.'^ 

''  What  did  the  king  do,  mother, 
when  he  heard  what  the  man  had 
done." 

"  He  called  the  man  to  him,  and  said 
to  him,  ''0  thou  wicked  servant,  I  for- 


76  CONVERSATIONS 

gave  thee  all  that  debt,  because  thou 
desired st  me :  Shouldest  not  thou  also 
have  had  compassion  on  thy  fellow- 
servant,  even  as  I  had  pity  on  thee  V 
And  the  king  was  very  angry,  and 
commanded  that  the  man  should  be 
punished  till  he  should  pay  the  debt." 

''  Well,  mother,  I  think  that  was 
right ;  for  it  was  only  treating  him 
as  he  had  treated  the  other.'' 

"  Very  true,  my  dear ;  and  'so'  says, 
Jesus,  '  shall  my  heavenly  Father  do 
also  unto  )^ou,  if  ye  from  your  hearts 
forgive  not  every  one  his  brother 
their  trespasses.'  It  is  very  clear, 
then,  that  if  you  pray  to  God,  w^hile 
harbouring  an  unforgiving  temper 
towards  others,  he  will  not.  answer 
your  prayers.  Indeed,  he  has  only 
taught  us  to  pray  for  the  forgiveness 
of  our  sins,  just '  as  7ve for  give  others.''  " 

"  But  this  is  not  all,  my  dear;  wo 
must  forsake  sin,  and  obey  God,  if 
we  would  have  him  hear  our  pray- 
ers.    David  says,    *  If  I  regard  ini- 


ox    PRAYER.  77 

quity  in  my  heart,  the  Lord  will  not 
hear  rne." 

"  What  does  he  mean  by  that, 
mother?" 

''  He  means  that,  if  you  do  not 
heartily  forsake  sin ;  but  secretly  love 
and  cherish  it  in  your  heart,  God  will 
not  hear  your  prayers.  Suppose  you 
were  to  think  to  yourself,  '  I  love 
mother,  and  I  want  her  to  love  me. 
I  will  mind  her  in  every  thing  but 
this  one  :  I  am  so  fond  of  the  sweet- 
meats, which  she  has  forbidden  me 
to  touch,  that  I  cannot  give  up  eating 
them,  whenever  I  can  do  it  without 
her  knowledge,'  could  you  come  to 
me,  with  any  conhdence,  to  ask  for 
any  thing  you  want?  " 

"No,  mother;  I  should  feel  so 
ashamed  that  I  could  not  ask  you  for 
any  thing." 

''  But  God  knows  your  heart ;  and 
if  there  is  any  sin  that  you  secretly 
love  and  cherish,  an.d  are  unwilling 
to  give  up  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  he 


78  CONVERSATIONS 

will  see  your  hypocrisy,  and  refuse 
to  hear  your  prayers.  And  Solomon 
says,  '  He  that  turneth  away  his  ear 
from  hearing  the  law,  even  his  prayer 
shall  be  ahominatmn.^  ^' 

''  What  does  he  mean  by  turning 
away  his  ear  from  hearing  the  laWj 
mother." 

"  I  suppose  it  means  slighting  God's 
law,  and  disobeying  it,  as  all  impeni- 
tent sinners  do." 

''Then,  mother,  according  to  that, 
the  prayers  of  all,  whose  hearts  have 
not  been  changed,  are  abomination 
to  the  Lord.     Is  it  so?" 

''Yes,  my  dear;  the  Bible  says  it 
is ;  and  if  you  think  a  moment,  you 
will  see  that  it  could  not  be  other- 
wise. All  impenitent  sinners,  or 
persons  who  have  not  become  truly 
pious,  are  God^s  enemies.  They  are 
opposing  his  government,  and  fight- 
ing against  him.  Suppose  your  lit- 
tle brother  had  done  some  naughty 
thing,  for  which  I  had  threatened  to 


ox    PRAYER.  79 

punish  him  ;  and  he  should  come  to 
me,  with  a  great  stick  in  his  hand, 
swinging  it  at  me,  as  if  to  say, '  touch 
me  if  you  dare,*  and  at  the  same  time 
beg  me  to  forgive  him.  How  should 
I  naturally  feel,  in  regard  to  his 
prayer  ?" 

"  It  would  make  him  appear  a 
great  deal  worse:  I  am  sure  it  would 
be  abomination  to  you." 

'*  Well,  that  would  be  just  like  the 
prayers  of  impenitent  sinners.  They 
want  God  to  forgive  their  sins,  w^hile 
they  are  lighting  against  him.  Yet, 
a  great  many  people  think  they  merit 
God's  favour,  by  such  prayers." 

"  Then,  mother,  must  I  wait  till 
my  heart  is  changed,  before  I  try  to 
pray?" 

*'  No,  my  dear ;  if  you  do,  I  am 
afraid  you  will  never  pray.  It  is 
your  duty  to  pray  now,  rvitli  a  peni- 
tent^ believing  heart ;  and  you  ought 
at  once  to  go  to  God,  and  gifve  him 
your  heart,  and  then  your  prayers 


80-  CONVERSATIONS 

Will  be  acceptable  to  him.  But,  un- 
til you  do  this,  every  thing  you  do  is 
sin,  because  you  are  living  in  oppo- 
sition to  God.  The  prophet  Isaiah 
says,  '  your  iniquities  have  separated 
between  you  and  your  God,  and  your 
sins  have  hid  his  face  from  you,  that 
he  will  not  hear.'  And  the  Lord 
Jesus  says  to  his  disciples,  '  If  ye 
abide  in  me,  and  my  words  abide  in 
you,  ye  shall  ask  what  ye  will,  and  it 
shall  be  done  unto  you.'  " 

''  I  do  not  know  what  it  is  to  abide 
in  Christ,  mother." 

*'  To  be  in  Christ,  is  to  take  him 
as  our  Saviour ;  and  in  order  to  do 
this,  we  must  repent  and  forsake 
our  sins.  To  abide  in  Christ,  is  to 
continue  in  a  penitent,  obedient,  and 
loving  frame  of  mind,  to  have  a  sense 
of  his  presence  with  us,  and  to  enjoy 
constant  communion  with  hirn.  And 
this  is  necessary,  in  order  to  give  us 
a  right  to  this  promise.  And  the 
same  thing  is  declared  by  the  apostle 


\ 


ON    PRAYER.  81 

John,  in  his  first  epistle.  ^And 
whatsoever  we  ask,  we  receive  of 
him,  because  we  keep  his  command- 
ments, and  do  those  things  that  are 
pleasing  in  his  sight.' " 


CHAPTER  VII. 

WE    MUST    PRAT    WITH     WATCHFULNESS     AND    PERSE- 
VEIIA>'CE,    EAHXE3TXESS,    ASD    IMPORTUNITY. 

**  Mother,  is  there  any  thing  ne- 
cessary in  prayer,  besides  what  you 
have  told  me?" 

"Yes,  my  dear;  I  have  several 
things  more  to.  tell  you,  which  you 
must  observe,  if  you  would  ask  aright. 
And    the    first   is,    that   you   must 

WATCH. 

"  What  is  it,  to  watch,  mother?" 
"  Do  )^ou    remember,    my    dear, 
when  we  were  at  Mr.  Smith's,  in  the 
country,  what  the  little  boys  were 
doing?" 


82  CONVERSATIONS 

''  Yes,  mother;  Mr.  Smith  was  ga 
thering  his  wheat  into  the  ham  ;  and 
the  httle  boys  were  set  at  the  gate,  to 
keep  the  cattle  out  of  the  field." 

"  Well,  they  were  watching.  The 
cattle  wanted  to  get  into  the  field, 
and  eat  up  the  wheat ;  and  the  boys 
had  to  7vatcli  to  keep  them  out.  So 
Satan  wants  to  come  into  your  heart, 
and  rule  there,  by  putting  evil 
thoughts  into  your  mind,  and  per- 
suading you  to  embrace  principles 
contrary  to  God's  word.  But,  you 
must  7vatch  against  him.  Keep  such 
a  look-out,  that,  whenever  any  evil 
thought  or  bad  feehng  comes  into 
your  heart,  you  will  be  ready  to  put 
it  away  in  an  instant.  You  will 
need  to  watch  continually  against 
bad  feelings  and  thoughts ;  and  also, 
lest  you  should  lose  the  spirit  of  pray- 
er, which  you  ought  always  to  carry 
with  you.  When  Jesus  was  in  the  gar- 
den, with  his  disciples,  on  the  night 
in  which  he  was  betrayed,  he  said  to 


ON    PRAYER.  83 

his  disciples  '  ovatcli  and  pray,  that 
ye  enter  not  into  temptation.'  And, 
in  another  place,  he  says,  '  What  I 
say  unto  yon,  I  say  nnto  all,  watch.'' 
The  apostle  Panl  says,  '  continue  in 
prayer,  and  watch  in  the  same,  with 
thanksgiving.' " 

"  How  can  we  watch  in  prayer, 
mother?  Can  we  watch  at  the  same 
time  that  we  are  praying?" 

"Yes,  my  dear;  we  must  watch 
against  wandering  thoughts.  If  we 
do  not,  before  we  think  of  it,  we  shall 
find  our  thoughts  running  upon  other 
things ;  and  you  must  know  it  is  very 
displeasing  to  God,  for  us  to  pretend 
to  be  praying  to  him,  while  we  are 
thinking  about  something  else.  But 
the  apostle  Peter  says,  we  must 
'  watch  unto  prayer.'  We  must  watch 
before  we  pray,  that  all  wandering 
thoughts  may  be  shut  out  of  our  hearts 
so  that  we  may  go  before  God,  in  a 
right  frame  of  mind ;  we  must  watch 
in  prayer,  to  keep  our  hearts  from 


84-  COXVERSATIOXS 

wandering;  and  we  must  watch  a/^cr 
prayer,  and  all  the  time,  to  keep  our 
hearts  in  a  praying  frame.  And  this 
leads  me  to  mention  another  thing 
that  is  necessary  to  'prevailing 'prayer. 
The  apostle  Paul  says,  we  must 
*pray  without  ceasing f  'continue 
instant  in  prayer ;'  and  '  pray  always, 
with  all  prayer  and  supplication  in 
the  spirit,  watching  thereunto  with 
all  perse verence.' " 

"But  how  can  an^^body  pray  all 
the  time,  mother'^  We  must  do 
something  else  besides  praying." 

"  The  apostle  does  not  mean  that 
we  must  be  all  the  time  in  our  clo- 
sets; but  that  we  must  keep  our 
minds  in  a  praying  frame.  We  must 
always  maintain  a  spirit  of  prayer, 
so  that  we  could  break  off  from  our 
employments  at  any  time,  and  pray 
with  proper  feeling.  The  things 
that  we  desire,  must  lie  upon  our 
hearts,  so  that  we  shall  think  of  them, 
while  about  our    work.     And,  we 


ON    PRAYER.  85 

must  often  send  up  short  prayers  to 
God  in  our  hearts,  while  we  are  busy 
about  other  things.  This  is  called 
ejaculatory  prayer.  You  will  find  a 
beautiful  example  of  this  kind  of 
prayer  in  the  second  chapter  of  Ne- 
hemiah.  This  good  man  was  the 
cup-bearer  to  the  king  of  Persia." 

"  I  do  not  know  what  a  cup-bearer 
is,  mother." 

"  It  was  the  custom  among  the 
kings;  in  that  country,  to  have  ser- 
vants to  wait  on  them ;  and  it  was 
esteemed  a  great  honour  to  be  ap- 
pointed to  such  an  office.  The  cup- 
bearer was  the  person  that  gave  the 
king  his  drink.  Nehemiah  was  a 
Jew ;  and  he  heard  that  the  people 
that  were  left  in  the  land  of  Judea, 
were  in  great  affliction ;  and  that  the 
wall  of  Jerusalem  was  broken  down, 
and  the  gates  burned  with  fire.  This 
made  him  feel  very  bad ;  and  he  sat 
down  and  wept  and  mourned,  a  long 
time,  and  fasted  and  prayed.    But, 

8 


66  CONVERSATIONS 

Nehemiah  was  soon  called  to  give 
the  king  his  drink.  Before  this,  he 
had  always  appeared  cheerful  in  the 
presence  of  the  king ;  but  now  he 
was  sad  ;  and  the  king  said  to  him, 
'  Why  is  thy  countenance  sad,  see- 
ing thou  art  not  sick?  This  is 
nothing  else  but  sorrow^  of  heart.' 
Then  Nehemiah  was  afraid,  and 
said  to  the  king,  'why  should  not 
my  countenance  be  sad,  when  the 
city,  the  place  of  my  fathers'  sepul- 
chres, lieth  waste,  and  the  gates 
thereof  are  consumed  with  fire?' 
Then  the  king  asked  him  what  he 
desired.  '  So,'  says  Nehemiah,  '  I 
prayed  to  the  God  of  heaven.'  It 
w^ould  not  have  been  possible  for  him 
to  have  gone  away  by  himself  to 
pray  ;  yet  he  felt  that  he  needed  the 
help  of  God  just  at  that  moment. 
So  he  offered  up  his  desires  to  God, 
ill  his  own  heart,  without  speaking 
the  words  ;  and  the  Lord  heard  his 
prayer,  and  inclined  the  heart  of  the 


ON    PRAYER.  87 

king  to  give  him  what  he  asked. 
And  so  you  will  find  a  great  many- 
cases,  every  day,  in  which  yon  will 
need  the  help  of  God,  when  you  can- 
not go  away  by  yourself  to  pray. 
You  will  find  evil  thoughts  coming 
into  your  mind,  when  you  will  want 
the  help  of  God's  Spirit  to  keep 
them  out ;  you  will  find  your  heart 
inclined  to  do  wrong,  when  you  will 
want  the  Spirit  of  God  to  help 
you  resist  the  temptation ;  and  in  a 
great  many  ways  you  will  need 
the  help  of  God's  grace  continual- 
ly. And,  if  you  keep  your  heart 
right,  and  maintain  a  spirit  of  prayer 
all  the  time,  you  can  lift  up  your 
heart  to  God  for  help,  at  any  time 
and  in  any  place,  even  in  the  midst 
of  company,  and  he  will  hear 
you." 

''  But  there  are  two  things  more 
my  dear,  that  are  necessary  to  pre- 
vailing prayer :  We  must  be  earnest 
and  importunate y    * 


88  CONVERSATIONS 

*'  I  do  not  know  what  wiportunate 
means." 

"  If  yon  come  and  ask  me  to  give 
you  a  piece  of  bread,  and  I  do  not 
hear  you  the  first  time,  and  you  keep 
on  asking  till  you  get  it,  you  will  be 
importunate.  But,  the  examples 
which  I  am  going  to  relate,  will  show 
what  it  means." 

"  Mother,  do  tell  me  first  about 
being  earnest  in  prayer." 

''  Well,  if  you  will  turn  to  the  first 
chapter  of  the  first  book  of  Samuel, 
you  will  find  a  very  interesting  story 
about  Hannah,  the  mother  of  Samuel. 
She  had  no  child ;  and  she  longed 
for  one  very  much.  And,  when  she 
went  up  to  the  house  of  the  Lord,  she 
wept,  and  would  not  eat.  And  she 
w^as  in  bitterness  of  soul,  and  prayed 
imto  the  Lord  and  wept  sore.  And 
she  vowed  a  vow,  and  said,  '  0  Lord 
of  Hosts,  if  thou  wilt  indeed,  look  on 
the  affliction  of  thine  handmaid,  and 
remember  me,  and  not  forget  thine 


ON    PRAYER.  89 

handmaid,  but  wilt  give  unto  thine 
handmaid  a  man-child,  then  I  will 
give  him  unto  the  Lord  all  the  days 
of  his  life.'  She  was  very  earnest, 
in  this  prayer.  Her  whole  heart  w^as 
in  it.  And  God  heard  her  prayer, 
and  gave  her  a  son ;  and  she  gave 
him  to  the  Lord,  as  she  had  promis- 
ed, and  he  Was  a  pious  boy,  and  be- 
came a  great  man,  a  judge,  and  a 
prophet.  And  this  shows  the  truth 
of  the  promise  made  to  Jeremiah : 
'  And  ye  shall  seek  me,  and  find  me, 
w^hen  ye  shall  search  for  me  with  all 
YOUR  HEART.'  But  there  is  another 
case,  very  much  like  this.  Hezekiah, 
the  good,  pious  king  of  Judah,  was 
sick.  And  the  prophet  Isaiah  came 
to  him,  and  told  him  to  set  his 
house  in  order,  for  the  time  had 
come  that  he  must  die." 

''  O  mother,  did  he  not  feel  very 
unhappy  when  he  heard  that  ?" 

''  Yes,  my  dear;  and  he  turned  his 
face  to  the  wall,  and  prayed  to  the 


90  CONVERSATIONS 

Lord,  and  said,  '  I  beseech  thee,  O 
Lord,  remember  now  how  I  have 
walked  before  thee,  in  truth  and  with 
a  perfect  heart,  and  have  done  that 
which  is  good  in  thy  sight.'  And  he 
wept  very  hard." 

''And  did  God  hear  his  prayer, 
mother?'' 

"  Yes;  and  before  the  prophet  had 
gone  from  the  porch  of  the  house,  the 
Lord  sent  him  back  to  tell  Hezekiah, 
'  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of 
David  thy  father,  I  have  heard  thy 
prayer,  I  have  seen  thy  tears :  behold 
I  will  heal  thee ;  on  the  third  day 
thou  shalt  go  up  unto  the  house  of 
the  Lord.  And  I  will  add  unto  thy 
days  fifteen  years.  So  the  king  got 
well;  and  his  life  was  lengthened 
fifteen  years." 

"  Yes,  mother,  I  see  what  kind  of 
prayer  the  Lord  will  answer.  I  re- 
member reading  about  little  Phebe 
Bartlett,  when  the  Lord  gave  her  a 
new  heart.     She  prayed  with  great 


ON    PRAYER.  91 

earnestness,  and  cried  very  hard,  and 
said,  '  I  pray,  beg,  O  Lord,  give  me 
salvation.'  " 

Yes ;  and  this  vt^as  the  way  that 
Jesus  prayed.  When  he  was  in  the 
garden  of  Gethsemane,  he  was  in  an 
agony,  and  prayed  more  earnestly : 
and  his  sweat  was  as  it  were  great 
drops  of  blood  falling  down  to  the 
ground." 

"  What  does  agony  me^n,  mother?" 
*'  It  is  a  word  generally  used  when 
we  are  describing  the  severest  pain. 
When  a  person  is  dying,  he  is  said 
to  be  in  the  agonies  of  death.  But 
here  it  is  applied  to  the  sufferings  of 
the  soul.  I  suppose  no  language 
could  express  deeper  feeling,  or  more 
painful  exercises  of  the  mind.  The 
apostle  Paul  describes  this  feeling, 
in  the  eighth  chapter  of  Romans . 
*  Likewise  the  Spirit  also  helpeth 
our  infirmities :  for  we  know  not 
what  we  should  pray  for  as  we  ought : 
but  the  Spirit  itself  maketh  interces- 
6* 


92  CONVERSATIONS 

sion  for  us,  with  groanings  which 

CANNOT   BE    UTTERED.'  " 

"  Well,  mother,  now  tell  me  about 
praying  with  importunittj.'' 

"  There  is  a  very  interesting  story 
about  Jacob's  wrestling  with  the 
angel.  I  do  not  know  that  we  can 
with  strict  propriety  apply  it  to  what 
we  are  talking  about;  but  it  is  an 
excellent  illustration  of  importunate 
prayer.  Esau,  Jacob's  brother,  was 
angry  with  him,  and  threatened  to 
kill  him.  So  Jacob  went  away  to 
his  uncle  Laban's,  and  stayed  a  great 
while,  till  he  had  a  family  of  children 
growm  up.  Then  he  came  back  to 
the  place  where  his  father  I^ac  and 
his  brother  Esau  lived.  But,  before 
he  arrived,  he  heard  that  his  brother 
was  coming  to  meet  him,  with  four 
hundred  men.  And  he  was  afraid, 
and  much  distressed ;  for  he  thought 
his  brother  w^as  coming  to  kill  him. 
And  he  prayed  to  God,  and  said,  '  O 
God  of  my  father  Abraham,  and  God 


ON   PRAYER.  93 

of  my  father  Isaac,  the  Lord  who 
saidst  unto  me,  Return  unto  thy 
country,  and  to  thy  kindred,  and  I 
will  deal  well  with  thee :  I  am  not 
worthy  of  the  least  of  all  thy  mercies, 
and  of  all  the  truth  which  thou  hast 
showed  unto  thy  servant :  for  with 
my  staff  I  passed  over  this  Jordan ; 
and  now  I  am  become  two  bands. 
Deliver  me,  I  pray  thee,  from  the 
hand  of  my  brother,  from  the  hand 
of  Esau ;  for  I  fear  him,  lest  he  will 
come  and  smite  me,  and  the  mother 
with  the  children.  And  thou  saidst, 
I  will  surely  do  thee  good,  and  make 
thy  seed  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  which 
cannot  be  numbered  for  multitude.' 
And,  in  the  night,  Jacob  was  alone ; 
and  an  angel  came  and  wrestled  with 
him  all  night ;  and  when  he  saw  that 
he  prevailed  not  against  Jacob,  he 
touched  his  thigh,  and  put  it  out  of 
joint.  And,  at  break  of  day,  the 
angel  said,  '  Let  me  go,  for  the  day 
breaketh.'  '  But  Jacob  said,  *  /  will 


94  CONVERSATIONS 

not  let  thee  go,  except  thou  bless  me.'' 
So  the  angel  blessed  him,  and  changed 
his  name  to  Israel,  which  means  *  a 
-prince  of  God;'  '  for,'  said  he,  '  as  a 
prince  hast  thou  power  with  God  and 
with  men,  and  hast  prevailed.'  Now, 
this  is  the  way  we  must  pray,  if  we 
would  have  our  prayers  answered. 
Although  the  angel  had  put  Jacob's 
thigh  out  of  joint,  he  would  not  let 
him  go  till  he  had  secured  the  bless- 
ing. So,  when  we  desire  any  thing 
of  God,  if  he  does  not  give  it  to  us  at 
first,  we  should  keep  on  asking,  and 
not  be  discouraged,  wdiatever  difficul- 
ties seem  to  be  in  the  way ;  but  hold 
on  to  his  promises,  and  continue  in 
prayer,  till  we  obtain  the  blessing  we 
desire,  or  till  God  shows  us  that  it  is 
not  his  will  that  we  should  have  it." 

*'  Mother,  you  said  you  would  tell 
me  about  Elijah's  praying  for  rain." 

"  Yes,  my  dear,  I  will.  After  three 
years  and  a  half,  when  the  earth  was 
parched  and  dried  up,  so  that  nothing 


ON   PRAYER.  95 

would  grow,  Ahab  and  one  of  his  men 
went  out  through  all  the  land,  about 
the  brooks  and  rivers,  to  search  for 
grass,  to  save  their  horses  and  mules 
from  starving  to  death.  But,  while 
they  were  on  their  way,  Elijah  met 
them." 

"  Was  he  not  afraid  the  king  would 
kill  him,  mother  ?" 

"  No,  my  dear  ;  he  trusted  in  the 
Lord;  and  the  Bible  says,  'the  right- 
eous are  as  bold  as  a  lion.'  " 

"  Well,  what  did  the  king  say, 
when  he  saw  Elijah?" 

"  He  said,  '  Art  thou  he  that  trou- 
bleth  Israel  V  But  Elijah  answered 
and  said,  'I  have  not  troubled  Israel; 
but  thou  and  thy  father's  house,  in 
that  ye  have  forsaken  the  command- 
ments of  the  Lord.'  And  the  prophet 
told  him  to  go  and  gather  all  the  peo- 
ple together,  with  the  false  prophets 
and  priests  of  the  idols  :  the  prophets 
of  Baal,  four  hundred  and  fifty,  and 
the  prophets  of  the  grove,  four  hun- 


96  CONVERSATIONS 

dred.  .  So  Ahab  gathered  together 
all  the  children  of  Israel,  and  all  the 
prophets,  to  Mount  Carmel.  And 
Elijah  came  to  the  people,  and  said, 
'  How  long  halt  ye  between  two  opi- 
nions? if  the  Lord  be  God,  follow 
him  ;  but  if  Baal,  then  follow^  him.' 
To  halt  is  to  stop.  If  you  were  going 
anywhere,  and  should  come  to  two 
roads,  and,  not  knowing  which  to 
take,  should  stop  between  them,  or 
at  the  place  where  they  separate,  you 
would  be  halting  between  two  opi- 
nions; whether  to  take  one  or  the 
other  of  the  roads.  This  was  the 
case  with  the  children  of  Israel. 
They  were  at  a  loss  to  decide,  whe- 
ther they  would  worship  God,  or  the 
idol  called  Baal.  Therefore  the  pro- 
phet inquired,  'How  long  halt  ye 
between  two  opinions?'  and  exhorted 
them  to  make  an  immediate  decision. 
A  great  many  people  live  all  their 
lives  without  coming  to  a  decision, 
as  to  whom  they  will  serve.     They 


ON    PRAYER.  97 

have  no  idea  of  dying  in  their  sins, 
and  going  to  hell ;  but  they  will  not 
make  up  their  minds  to  serve  God 
now.  They  go  on  halting  between 
two  opinions;  and  death  generally 
overtakes  them  before  they  decide. 
O  that  we  could  see  the  children  in 
our  Sabbath-schools,  one  and  all, 
making  up  their  minds  to  take  the 
Lord  for  their  God  now  !" 

''  What  did  the  people  say  to  Eli- 
jah, mother?" 

''  They  did  not  answer  him  a  word. 
But  Elijah  said,  *  I,  even  I  only,  re- 
main a  prophet  of  the  Lord  ;  but 
Baal's  prophets  are  four  hundred  and 
fifty  men.'  And  he  told  them  to  let 
the  prophets  of  Baal  bring  two  young 
bullocks,  and  choose  one  for  them- 
selves, and  cut  it  in  pieces  and  lay 
it  on  wood,  but  put  no  fire  under ; 
and  he  would  do  the  same  with  the 
other :  '  And,'  said  he, '  call  ye  on  the 
name  of  your  gods,  and  I  will  call  on 
the  name  of  the  Lord ,  and  the  God 
9 


98  CONVERSATIONS 

that  answereth  by  fire,  let  him  be 
God.'  And  all  the  people  agreed  to 
it.  So  the  prophets  of  Baal  chose 
their  bullock,  and  dressed  it,  and 
called  on  the  name  of  Baal  from 
morning  till  noon,  saying,  O  Baal, 
hear  us !  But  their  god  did  not  hear 
them.  And  they  leaped  upon  the 
altar.  And  at  noon,  Elijah  mocked 
them,  and  said,  '  Cry  aloud,  for  he  is 
a  god  ;  either  he  is  talking,  or  he  is 
pursuing,  or  he  is  on  a  journey,  or  he 
sleepeth,  and  must  be  awaked.'  And 
they  cried  aloud,  and  cut  themselves 
vrith  knives,  till  the  blood  gushed 
out  upon  them.  And  in  the  evening, 
Elijah  called  the  people  to  him.  And 
he  took  twelve  stones,  according  to 
the  number  of  the  tribes  of  Israel, 
and  built  an  altar  to  the  Lord.  And 
he  dug  a  great  ditch  around  the  altar, 
and  put  the  wood  on  the  altar,  and 
cut  the  bullock  in  pieces,  and  laid 
him  on  the  wood.  Then  he  told  them 
to  fill  four  barrels  with  water,  and 


ON   PRAYER.  99 

pour  it  on  the  altar;  and  they  did  so. 
And  he  said,  Do  it  the  second  time ; 
and  they  did  it  the  second  time. 
And  he  said,  Do  it  the  third  time ; 
and  they  did  it  the  third  time.  And 
the  water  ran  all  over  the  meat,  and 
the  wood,  and  the  altar,  and  filled 
the  ditch  with  water." 

"  What  did  he  do  that  for,  mother?" 
*'  I  suppose  it  was  to  show  the  peo- 
ple that  he  had  not  put  any  fire  under 
the  sacrifice,  and  that  there  was  no 
deception  in  what  he  was  going  to  do. 
Then  the  prophet  came  near  the 
altar,  and  prayed,  and  said,  'Lord 
God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  of  Israel, 
let  it  be  known  this  day  that  thou 
art  God  in  Israel,  and  that  I  am  thy 
servant,  and  that  I  have  done  all  these 
things  at  thy  word.  Hear  me,  O 
Lord,  hear  me  ;  that  this  people  may 
know  that  thou  art  the  Lord  God, 
and  that  thou  hast  turned  their  heart 
back  again.'  Then  the  fire  of  the 
Lord  came  down,  and  burnt  up  the 


100  CONVERSATIONS 

meat,  and  the  wood,  and  the  stones, 
and  the  dust,  and  the  water  that  was 
in  the  ditch." 

''  O,  how  wonderful,  mother!  what 
did  the  people  say  to  that?" 

''  They  fell  on  their  faces,  and  said, 
'  The  Lord,  he  is  the  God ;  the  Lord, 
he  is  the  God.'  Then  Elijah  told 
them  to  take  the  prophets  of  Baal, 
and  not  let  one  of  them  escape.  And 
they  were  all  taken  and  put  to  death." 

''I  think  that  was  very  cruel, 
mother." 

"  No,  my  dear ;  under  the  law  of 
Moses,  idolatry  was  punished  with 
death.  These  men  were  Israelites ; 
and  they  were  not  only  guilty  of  ido- 
latry themselves,  but  of  teaching 
others  to  worship  idols." 

''  But  I  should  not  think  the  wick- 
ed king  would  have  let  him  do  this." 

"  You  see,  by  this,  what  power  a 
man  has,  who  lives  near  to  God. 
Both  the  king  and  the  people  seem 
to  have  been  overpowered  with  a 


ON    PRAYER.  101 

sense  of  the  presence  of  God.  After 
the  prophets  of  Baal  were  killed, 
Elijah  told  Ahab  to  go  up  to  his 
house,  and  eat  and  drmk,  for  there 
was  the  sound  of  plenty  of  rain.  But 
the  prophet  went  up  to  the  top  of 
Mount  Carmel,  and  threw  himself 
down  upon  the  ground,  and  put  his 
face  between  his  knees,  and  prayed 
for  rain.  Then  he  sent  his  servant 
to  look  toward  the  sea ;  and  he  went, 
and  returned  and  told  the  prophet 
that  he  saw  nothing.  But  Elijah 
was  not  discouraged.  He  kept  on 
praying ;  and  told  his  servant  to  go 
again.  But  he  saw  nothing.  And 
he  sent  him  again ;  and  kept  praying, 
till  his  servant  had  gone  and  looked 
seven  times.  And  the  seventh  time, 
he  saw  a  little  cloud,  the  size  of  a 
man's  hand.  And  in  a  little  while, 
the  sky  was  black  with  clouds,  and 
the  wind  blew,  and  there  was  a  great 
rain." 

"  O  !  that  was  wonderful,  mother. 

9* 


102  CONVERSATIONS 

But  Elijah  was  a  prophet.  I  suppose 
the  Lord  would  answ^er  the  prayers 
of  a  prophet,  when  he  would  not  hear 
a  common  Christian/' 

''  The  apostle  James,  speaking  of 
this,  says, '  Elias  (or  Elijah )  was  a  man 
subject  to  like  passions  as  we  are ;' 
showing  \h.dXspecial  ansivers  to  prayer 
were  not  to  be  confined  to  the  prophets. 
But  you  see  how  importunate  Elijah 
was.  He  prayed  six  times  before  he 
saw  any  appearance  of  an  answer. 
Many  people  would  be  discouraged, 
before  they  had  prayed  half  so  many 
times  as  that.  But  he  believed  God's 
promises,  and  did  not  stop  praying 
till  he  had  received  an  answer.  And 
this  is  the  way  that  Jesus  teaches  us 
to  pray.  He  told  a  parable  to  his 
disciples,  to  show  them  that  men 
ought  alw^ays  to  pray,  and  not  to  faint 
He  said  there  was  a  judge,  who  nei- 
ther feared  God  nor  man,  and  cared 
nothing  about  doing  justice.  And  a 
poor  widow  came  to  him,  and  begged 


ON   PRAYER.  103 

him  to  punish  some  one  that  had  in- 
jured her.  And  at  first,  he  would 
not  do  it;  but  she  kept  coming  to 
him  till  he  was  tired  of  it;  and, 
though  he  cared  nothing  about  doing 
justice,  yet  he  said  to  himself  that 
he  would  give  her  what  she  wanted, 
lest,  by  her  continual  coming,  she 
should  weary  him.  Then,  the  Lord 
Jesus  asks  his  disciples.  If  a  wicked 
man  will  give  what  a  poor  w^oman 
asks,  because  of  her  importunity,  will 
not  God  hear  the  prayers  of  his  own 
people,  whom  he  tenderly  loves,  when 
they  cry  day  and  night  unto  him? 
And  Jesus  has  himself  given  us  ex- 
amples of  earnest,  persevering,  and 
importunate  prayer.  At  one  time, 
he  went  up  into  a  mountain,  and 
continued  all  night  in  prayer  to  God, 
And,  at  the  time  of  his  agony  in  the 
garden,  he  went  away  three  times, 
and  prayed  for  the  same  thing.  So, 
when  we  pray,  we  must  earnestly 
desire  what  we  pray  for,  and  keep 


104  CO^n^ERSATIONS 

asking  for  it,  till  the  Lord  hears  our 
prayers,  or  shows  us  thut  it  is  not 
consistent  with  his  will  to  give  us 
what  we  desire.  And,  when  we  ask 
for  God's  Spirit,  or  for  any  thing  that 
he  has  told  us  in  his  word  that  he  is 
willing  to  give,  we  should  keep  ask- 
ing, and  grow  more  earnest,  and  never 
give  it  up,  till  w^e  have  received  the 
blessing.  The  Lord  sometimes  de- 
lays to  answer  our  prayers,  in  order 
to  try  our  faith,  and  to  see  whether 
we  will  persevere  in  asking.  And 
sometimes  he,  no  doubt,  sees  some- 
thing wrong  in  our  prayers,  when 
we  are  not  sensible  of  it.  We  should 
then  examine  ourselves,  and  strive 
to  correct  what  is  wrong,  when  our 
prayers  are  not  answered  as  soon  as 
we  have  expected. 


ON   PRAYER.  105 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

WHEN,  WHER£,  FOR  WHOM,  AND  HOW  WE  MUST  PRJIT. 

"  Mother,  there  are  some  other 
things  I  would  like  to  know  about 
prayer.  Does  the  Bible  say  any 
thing  about  the  time  and  place  of 
prayer?" 

"  The  Bible  does  not  tell  us  how 
many  times  in  a  day  we  must  pray. 
From  what  I  have  already  said,  you 
see  the  necessity  of  praying  often. 
But  it  is  very  important  that  you 
should  have  regular  and  stated  sea- 
sons for  prayer.  Daniel  was  in  the 
habit  of  praying  statedly,  three  times, 
a  day:  and  David  says,  'Evening, 
morning,  and  at  noon,  will  I  pray, 
and  cry  aloud ;  and  he  shall  hear  my 
voice;'  and  the  writer  of  the  il9th 
Psalm  says,  *  Seven  times  a  day  do 
I  praise  thee.'  You  ought  to  have 
your  times  for  prayer,  and  they  should 


106  CONVERSATIONS 

be  fixed  and  regular ;  and  never  think 
of  neglecting  tlienri,  any  more  than 
you  would  think  of  neglecting  your 
meals.  And,  in  regard  to  our  private 
prayers,  our  Saviour  says  they  should 
be  in  secret.  He  told  his  disciples 
not  to  seek  public  places,  where  they 
would  be  seen,  when  they  prayed ; 
but  to  go  into  their  closets,  and  shut 
the  door,  so  that  no  eye  but  God 
might  see  them.  Any  secret  jilace 
for  prayer,  where  none  but  God  can 
see  us,  is  a  closet.  Our  Lord  spent 
much  time  in  retired  places,  in  prayer 
to  God.  We  often  read  of  his  going 
Tip  into  a  mountain  to  pray.  And 
the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  where  he 
prayed  in  such  agony,  the  night  in 
which  he  was  betrayed,  was  a  retired 
place,  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  where 
he  often  went  with  his  disciples. 
Your  bed-room,  or  any  other  place 
where  you  can  be  free  from  interrup- 
tion, is  a  proper  place  for  your  devo- 
tions.    There  you  ought  to  spend 


ON    PRAYER.  107 

much  time  in  reading  the  Bible  and 
prayer,  and  in  thinking  about  God 
and  serious  things.  If  you  do  so, 
you  may  expect  God  will  meet  with 
you,  and  bless  you." 

"But,  mother,  did  Christ  mean 
that  we  should  never  pray  anywhere 
else,  but  in  secret?" 

"When  Christ  rebuked  the  Pha- 
risees and  hypocrites  for  making  long 
prayers  in  public  places,  he  did  not 
mean  to  condemn  public  worship. 
You  will  find  a  great  many  examples 
of  public  prayer  in  the  Bible.  He 
only  meant  to  condemn  praying  mere- 
ly to  be  seen  of  others.  The  Jews 
had  certain  hours  for  prayer;  and 
when  these  hours  came,  they  would 
stop  and  pray,  wherever  they  were. 
And  many  of  them  sought  public 
places,  where  they  might  be  seen,  in 
order  to  show  their  great  piety.  Now, 
if  you  pray  in  any  way,  in  order  to 
make  people  think  you  are  very  pious, 


lOS  CONVERSATIONS 

you  show  yourself  to  be  a  hypocrite, 
and  come  under  this  reproof." 

"Must  I  pray  for  anybody  but 
myself,  mother?" 

"  Yes ;  the  apostle  Paul  says  to 
Timothy,  '  I  exhort  that,  first  of  all, 
supplications,  prayers,  intercessions, 
and  giving  of  thanks,  be  made  for 
ALL  MEN ;  for  kings,  and  for  all  that 
ARE  IN  AUTHORITY.'  And  to  the 
Ephesians  he  says, '  Praying  always, 
with  all  prayer  and  supplication  in 
the  Spirit,  and  watching  thereunto 
with  all  perseverance  for  all  saints, 
and  for  me,  that  utterance  may  be 
given  unto  me,  that  I  may  open  my 
mouth  boldly,  to  make  known  the 
mystery  of  the  gospel.'  The  duty 
of  praying  for  our  rulers  is  often 
mentioned  by  the  apostles ;  and  the 
duty  of  praying  for  ministers  of  th^ 
gospel." 

"  Mother,  can  you  tell  me  about 
any  persons  mentioned  in  the  Bible, 
who  prayed  for  others?" 


ON   PRAYER.  109 

"Yes;  Moses  seemed  almost  to 
stand  between  God  and  the  children 
of  Israel,  while  they  were  in  the 
wilderness.  A  great  many  times, 
the  Lord  threatened  to  destroy  them 
for  their  wickedness ;  but  then  Moses 
would  pray  for  them,  and  the  Lord 
would  forgive  their  sin.  After  the 
Lord  had  given  them  the  ten  com- 
mandments, while  Moses  was  up  in 
the  mountain  with  God,  the  people 
made  a  calf  of  gold,  and  called  it 
their  god,  and  worshipped  it.  And 
the  Lord  said  to  Moses,  '  I  have  seen 
this  people,  and  behold  it  is  a  stiff- 
Qecked  people.  Now,  therefore,  let 
me  alone,  that  my  wrath  may  wax 
hot  against  them,  and  that  I  may 
consume  them ;  and  I  will  make  of 
thee  a  great  nation.'  But  Moses 
prayed  for  them,  and  said,  '  Lord, 
why  doth  thy  wrath  wax  hot  against 
thy  people,  which  thou  hast  brought 
forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  with 
great  power,  and  with  a  mighty  hand? 

10 


^110  CONVERSATIONS 

"VVhereforo  should  the  Egyptians 
speak  and  sa}^,  For  mischief  did  he 
bring  them  out,  to  slay  them  in  the 
mountains,  and  to  consume  them 
from  the  face  of  the  earth?  Turn 
from  thy  fierce  wrath,  and  repent 
of  this  evil  against  thy  people.  Re- 
member Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Israel, 
thy  servants,  to  whom  thou  swarest 
by  thine  own  self,  and  saidst  unto 
them,  I  will  multiply  your  seed  as 
the  stars  of  heaven ;  and  all  this  land 
that  I  have  spoken  of,  will  I  give 
unto  your  seed,  and  they  shall  inherit 
it  forever.'  " 

"And  did  the  Lord  hear  his 
prayer,  mother?" 

''  Yes ;  he  heard  his  prayer,  and 
did  not  destroy  the  people.  And 
many  times  after  this,  when  the 
people  provoked  the  Lord,  in  the 
wilderness,  Moses  prayed  for  them, 
and  they  were  saved.  There  is  one 
class  of  persons,  my  dear,  that  the 


ON    PRAYER.  Ill 

Bible  says  you  must  pray  for,  which 
I  have  not  mentioned." 

"  Who  are  they,  mother?" 

''Your  enemies,  my  dear;  those 
who  hate  and  abuse  you." 

"But  how  can  I  pray  for  those 
who  treat  me  so,  mother?" 

"  If  you  feel  right,  you  can  do  it. 
Our  Saviour  says  you  must '  Love 
your  enemies,  bless  them  that  curse 
you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you, 
and  pray  for  them  which  despitefully 
use  you,  and  persecute  you.'  And 
he  has  set  us  the  example.  He  died 
for  those  who  were  his  enemies ;  and 
while  he  hung  on  the  cross,  he  prayed 
even  for  his  murderers, '  Father,  for- 
give them,  for  they  know  not  what 
they  do.'  And  the  first  man  that 
was  put  to  death  for  being  a  follower 
of  Jesus,  imitated  his  example.  Ste- 
phen prayed  for  his  murderers, '  Lord, 
lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge.'  " 

"  Well,  mother,  when  the  disciples 
asked  Jesus  to  teach  them  to  pray, 


112  CONVERSATIONS 

he  gave  them  the  Lord's  prayer 
Must  I  always  say  the  Lord's  prayer, 
and  nothing  else,  when  I  pray?" 

"Jesus  told  them  to  pray  'after 
this  manner.''  But  he  did  not  mean 
that  they  should  always  say  just  the 
same  w^ords.  If  he  had  meant  this, 
his  disciples  would  have  done  so ; 
but,  very  soon  after  he  left  them,  we 
find  them  using  other  words,  to  ex- 
press their  particular  desires.  Before 
choosing  a  man  to  fill  the  place  of 
Judas,  as  one  of  the  apostles,  they 
prayed,  and  said,  'Thou,  Lord,  who 
knowest  the  hearts  of  all  men,  show 
whether  of  these  two  thou  hastchosen, 
that  he  may  take  part  of  this  ministry 
and  apostleship,  from  which  Judas 
by  transgression  fell,  that  he  might 
go  to  his  own  place.'  And  the  prayer 
of  the  disciples,  after  Peter  and  John 
had  been  threatened,  is  in  their  own 
words." 

"But  what  did  Christ  mean  by 
giving  us  this  form  of  prayer,  if  it 


ON    PRAYER.  113 

was  not  that  we  should  say  the  same 
words?" 

''  I  suppose  he  meant  to  give  it  to 
us  as  a  kind  of  pattern,  to  show  us 
how  to  pray,  and  what  things  to  pra)^ 
for ;  and  if  you  consider  every  part 
of  it  carefully,  you  will  find  it  takes 
in  almost  every  thing." 

"  Well,  mother,  do  tell  me  all  about 
it.  What  may  I  learn  from  the  be- 
ginning of  it,  '  Our  Father,  who  art 
in  heaven?'  " 

"  This  teaches  you  to  come  to  God, 
as  a  little  child  comes  to  its  father. 
How  do  you  go  to  your  father,  when 
you  want  him  to  give  you  anything?" 

"  I  first  think  whether  he  will  be 
willing  to  give  me  what  I  want. 
Then  I  am  afraid  of  displeasing  him, 
so  I  am  careful  to  come  in  such  a 
way  as  to  show  that  I  reverence  him. 
And  I  knov/  my  father  loves  me,  and 
that  he  will  always  give  me  what  I 
want,  if  he  thinks  it  best.  So  I  go 
to  him  vnth  confidence,  and  tell  him 

10^ 


114  CONVERSATIONS 

just  what  I  want.  But,  if  lie  says  it 
would  not  be  best  for  me  to  have  it, 
then  I  am  satisfied,  because  I  know 
that  he  knows  best  what  I  should 
have." 

"Well,  that  is  just  the  way  that 
we  should  come  to  God.  This  part 
of  the  Lord's  prayer  teaches  us  to 
regard  him  as  our  Heavenly  Father." 

"  O  what  a  blessed  thing  it  is,  mo- 
ther, to  have  God  for  our  Father !'' 

"  Yes,  it  is  a  blessed  thing  indeed. 
But,  my  dear,  when  you  go  to  ask 
)^our  father  for  any  thing  you  want, 
do  you  need  any  one  to  teach  you 
w^hat  to  say  to  him  ?" 

"  O  no  mother;  I  can  very  easily 
tell  him  what  I  want.  I  just  speak 
out  my  heart  to  him." 

"Well,  my  dear;  that  is  the  w^ay 
you  ought  to  pray  to  God.  If  you 
have  any  desires,  you  can  easily  tell 
them  to  him.  And  he  looks  at  the 
heart.  If  that  is  right,  he  will  not 
mind  so  much  about  the  words.     He 


ON   PRAYER.  115 

wants  you  to  speak  your  heart  right 
out  to  him,  as  you  do  to  your  father." 

"  Why  did  Christ  tell  us  to  sav, 
'  Our  Father?'  Why  not,  'My  Fa- 
ther?'" 

"I  suppose  he  meant  that  we 
should  not  confine  our  prayers  to 
ourselves;  but  pray  with  and  for 
others ;  and  not  feel  that  we  have 
any  better  right  to  call  God  our  Fa- 
ther, than  others  have." 

"  And  what  does  '  Hallowed  be  thy 
name'  mean,  mother?" 

"  How  would  you  feel,  my  dear, 
if  you  should  hear  some  boys  in  the 
vStreet  making  sport  of  your  father's 
name,  and  calling  it  out  in  their  plays 
to  insult  him?" 

"  I  should  feel  very  bad,  mother. 
I  could  not  bear  it." 

''Well,  those  who  love  God,  feel 
so  about  His  name.  They  cannot 
bear  to  hear  it  trifled  with.  They 
wish  to  have  Him  loved  and  reve- 
renced by  everybody;  and   this   is 


116  CONVERSATIONS 

■what  the  prayer  means;  for  God's 
name,  is  often  put  for  God  himself ''(^ 

"  And,  what  do  we  mean,  when 
we  say,  '  Thy  Mngdom  come  ?  What 
does  thy  kingdom  mean  ?  '^ 

"  Christ  is  represented  as  a  kinj^ 
over  his  people ;  and  so  the  church 
is  called  the  Kingdom  of  God.  God 
has  revealed  to  us,  in  the  Bible,  that 
the  time  will  come  when  all  the  world 
shall  be  converted;  and  so  the  king- 
dom of  God  will  be  set  up  and  es- 
tablished in  the  world.  When  we 
pray,  '  thy  kingdom  come,^  we  pray 
for  that  glorious  day,  when  ail  the 
people  in  the  world  shall  know  the 
Lord.  And,  whenever  we  pray  for 
the  blessing  of  God  upon  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel,  upon  Sabbath- 
schools,  missionaries,  or  any  thing 
that  his  people  are  doing  for  the  con- 
version of  the  world,  we  pray  for  the 
coming  of  his  kingdom.  And  the 
same  thing  is  repeated,  a  little  more 
particularly  in  the  next  part  of  the 


ON    PRAYER.  117 

prayer,  '  Thy  will  he  done  on  earth 
as  it  is  in  heaven.^  What  makes 
heaven  such  a  happy  place  is,  that 
all  the  holy  beings  there  delight  in 
doing  the  will  of  God ;  and  if  his  will 
were  done  here  just  as  it  is  there,  we 
should  have  a  heaven  upon  earth. 
And  what  can  any  one  desire  more, 
than  that  the  holy  will  of  God  should 
be  done  with  cheerfulness  and  de- 
light by  all  the  people  in  the  world  ?'' 

"  The  next  part  of  the  prayer  is, 
'  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread :^ 
must  we  not  pray  for  any  worldly 
things  but  our  daily  bread  ?" 

I  suppose  this  petition  is  intended 
to  include  every  thing  that  we  need, 
for  this  life.  At  the  same  time,  it 
teaches  us  to  feel  our  dependence 
upon  God,  day  by  day,  for  all  earthly 
blessings  and  not  to  look  forward 
with  anxious  desire,  for  the  supply 
of  our  future  wants ;  but  to  be  satis- 
fied with  what  we  need,  from  day  to 
day.     It  teaches  also  the  duty  of 


118  CONVERSATIONS 

praying  for  such  things  as  we  need, 
to  supply  our  earthly  wants.  People 
sometimes  pray  as  if  they  thought 
they  were  not  dependent  upon  God 
for  food  and  clothing;  for  they  never 
think  of  asking  for  such  things." 

"  '  Andforgiveus  our  debts'  What 
does  that  mean,  mother  ?" 

''  It  means  that  we  should  pray  to 
God  to  forgive  us  our  sins.  Sin  is 
sometimes  represented  as  a  debt 
which  we  owe  to  God.  If  we  owe  a 
man  any  thing,  if  he  does  not  forgive 
it,  or  agree  to  give  it  up,  we  must  pay 
it.  So,  if  God  does  not  forgive  our 
sins,  and  treat  us  as  if  we  had  not 
sinned,  we  must  be  punished.  This 
is  a  prayer  we  ought  to  make  every 
day ;  and  the  other  part  of  the  peti- 
tion, I  have  already  explained  to  you. 
Here  you  see  that  we  are  not  allow^ed 
to  pray  for  the  forgiveness  of  our 
sins,  any  further  than  we  forgive 
those  that  have  injured  us." 


ON    PRAYER.  119 

*'  What  does  temptation  mean,  mo- 
ther ?" 

"  Temptation  is  an}^  thing  that  tries 
or  proves  ns.  If  I  should  tell  yon  that 
you  must  not  take  any  of  the  sweet- 
meats that  I  have  put  away  to  keep, 
and  then  leave  them  where  you  can 
get  them,  to  see  whether  you  will 
obey  me,  that  would  be  trying  or 
provmg  you.  Sometimes  the  Lord 
allow^s  Satan  to  try  to  persuade  us  to 
do  wrong.  In  such  cases,  we  are 
tempted  by  the  devil  to  do  wrong. 
Sometimes,  the  Lord  brings  trouble 
upon  us,  to  try  or  prove  our  piety. 
This  is  sometimes  called  temptation. 
Here,  I  suppose  temptation  means  all 
the  ways  in  which  we  may  be  tried, 
both  by  Satan  and  by  afflictions. 
AVe  are  directed  to  pray  that  God 
would  not  suffer  ns  to  be  led  into 
temptations  or  trials  of  any  kind; 
but  that  he  would  deliver  us  from  all 
evil :  both  from  being  led  into  sin,  by 
Satan  and  our  own  wdcked  hearts^ 


120  CONVERSATIONS 

and  from  every  kind  of  affliction, 
trouble,  or  distress.  And  all  these 
things  we  are  to  ask,  not  for  our  own 
sake  chiefly  ;  but  that  the  power  and 
goodness  of  God  may  appear,  by  his 
giving  them  to  us.  For  the  prayer 
concludes  with  a  reason  why  we  ask 
them :  for,  or  because  '  thine  is  the 
kingdom,  the  power y  and  the  glory.'  " 

''What  does  this  mean,  mother?" 

"  It  is  as  much  as  to  say,  '  We  ask 
these  things,  because  thou  rulest  over 
all  things,  and  canst  so  order  every 
thing  as  to  do  this  for  us ;  and  thou 
hast  all  power  in  thy  hands — thou 
art  able  to  give  us  what  we  ask.  And 
we  ask  these  things,  not  that  we  may 
be  honoured;  but  that  thy  name  may 
be  glorified,  in  showing  forth  to  the 
world  thy  power  and  goodness ;  for" 
all  honour  and  glory  belong  to  thee.'  '* 

"  And  what  does  '  Amen^  mean, 
mother  ?" 

''  It  means  *  so  let  it  he'  It  was  the 
way  that  the  people  answered  to  any 


ON    PRAYER.  121 

thing  that  was  brought  before  them, 
to  express  their  consent.  And,  I  sup- 
pose, in  the  Jewish  worship,  the  peo- 
ple showed  that  they  agreed  to  the 
prayers  that  were  offered  to  God,  by 
saying,  'Amen — so  let  it  he'  When 
w^e  say  amen,  at  the  close  of  our 
prayers,  we  ask  God  again,  to  let  it 
be  as  we  have  spoken  ;  and  by  doing 
so,  we  show  that  we  have  confidence 
in  him,  that  he  is  able  and  w^illing  to 
give  us  what  we  ask  for,  if  it  is 
agreeable  to  his  will." 

"  Must  I  ask  for  all  these  things 
every  time  I  pray,  mother  ?" 

''  No,  my  dear ;  if  you  examine  all 
the  prayers  that  are  mentioned  in  the 
Bible,  you  will  find  that  God's  peo- 
ple always  asked  for  just  what  they 
felt  the  need  of,  at  the  time.  This 
is  a  general  prayer,  intended  to  in- 
clude every  thing  that  we  ever  need 
to  ask  for.  But,  the  Bible  tells  us  to 
ask  for  the  particular  things  that  we 
desire ;  and  the  prayers  of  good  peo- 
11 


1 22  CONVERSATIONS 

pie,  which  are  written  in  the  Bible, 
are  for  particular  things.  They 
always  asked,  in  plain  and  simple 
language,  for  just  what  they  wanted. 
And  we  should  do  the  same.  And, 
when  we  thank  and  praise  God,  for 
his  goodness  to  us,  and  to  the  world, 
we  should  mention  the  particular 
good  things  that  we  have  received 
from  him;  and  when  we  confess  our 
sins,  we  should  be  very  particular 
not  to  keep  any  thing  back;  but 
mention  every  thing  that  we  can 
think  of,  that  we  have  done  wrong. 
But,  there  is  one  thing  in  this  prayer, 
of  which  I  want  you  to  take  particu- 
lar notice.  It  is  not  a  selfish  prayer. 
We  are  told  to  pray  for  the  glory 
of  God's  name,  for  the  coming  of  his 
kingdom,  and  that  his  will  may  be* 
done,  before  we  pray  for  our  daily 
bread.  We  ought,  then,  to  desire  the 
glory  of  God,  and  the  good  of  the 
church  of  Christ  more  than  we  desire 
any  thing  for  ourselves.     We  ought 


ON    PRAYER.  123 

to  make  tliem  the  great  burden  of  all 
our  prayers ;  and  to  feel  as  the  writer 
of  one  of  the  psalms  felt,  when  he 
said,  "If  I  forget  thee,  0  Jerusalem, 
let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cun- 
ning. If  I  do  not  remember  thee,  let 
my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my 
mouth;  if  I  prefer  not  Jerusalem, 
(meaning     the    Church    of    God  J 

ABOVE    MY  CHIEF  JOY." 


THE   END. 


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